


His Rival

by BluePaladinJess



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Reader Insert, Rivals to Lovers, character injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-05-20 20:18:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 77,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19383964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluePaladinJess/pseuds/BluePaladinJess
Summary: You and Keith were rivals at the garrison. You were a model student and respected others, he didn’t seem to care about anyone and in your opinion was pretty rude. That was until when  you met him a year later. As you begin to work alongside him as the silver paladin, you start to see that he isn’t all that he seemed before. As your journey continues, you may even end up falling for him, but would you let yourself love your rival?





	1. Stopping Keith

**Author's Note:**

> hello, Jess here. This is my first ever fanfiction so there may be some slight grammar mistakes. 
> 
> The relationship between you and Keith will be slow burn, the two of you probably won’t get together until the end of season 2. 
> 
>  
> 
> If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about His Rival let me know, I’d like to hear from you!
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter

“Hey (y/n), wait up!” said James as he called after you. You were on your way to lunch at the galaxy garrison, a school that trains the next generation of space explorers.

“What do you want?” you replied, turning and stopping to face him. 

“Can’t I just talk to my girlfriend without her sassing me?” He responded with a flirtatious grin.

“For the thousandth time, I am NOT your girlfriend” you replied glaring at him. You were getting sick of his flirting.

“Geez, rude. I thought we were friends? We’ve been friends since we came to the garrison, remember?” He paused and thought for a moment, you were starting to walk away from him.

“Anyways, I found out something big about a certain black haired boy. When I was on patrol earlier I saw him planting some bombs close to the garrison.” he said, as he started to catch up and walk next to you, trying to get your attention.

That made you turn around. Keith was your and Jame’s rival when he went to the garrison with you. You thought for a minute, wondering why Keith would do such a thing. You then replied,

“Maybe it’s some sort of distraction for some scheme of his. Where were they planted?” 

He responded, “The eastern side of campus. This means that he plans to enter the west side of the campus, as those there will be busy on the other side.” 

“Well whatever he is planning must not be good” you said, with his past behavior in mind. “He has to be stopped. This is Keith we’re talking about. Keith who never cared about anyone else at the garrison but himself and Shiro. Keith that disrespected the teachers and didn’t care if he hurt someones feelings.”

You thought for a second before you continued. ,“Maybe he his trying to get revenge. He always got in trouble with the teachers here. Who’s on the west side that he could be after?” 

“There are no classrooms or offices there, the only thing that’s on the west side is the med bay. What do you think he’s after?”, James responded, trying to figure out the mystery.

“Maybe some of their equipment. He seemed to have a thing for knives/sharp objects. Who knows though? I’ll go over there a bit before the bombs go off” you decided. “What’s the timer set for?”

“14 hours. Well now it’s been 2 hours since I saw them so 12. Do you need me to come with you and protect you?” He said smirking at you. This made you sigh and scowl. 

“ No I can handle myself thank you very much” you sassed him. Besides, we aren’t allowed outside our dorms past 8.”

“But you are going to be in the med Bay Area at 10? Isn’t that breaking the rules? You usually follow them and snitch on those that don’t so this is very unlike you” James commented

You sighed. Why does everyone think I’m a nosy snitch? You replied, “I’ve only snitched when their rule breaking harms someone else or could harm someone else. Like when Thomas bullied my little sister. Also, I’m willing to break the rules to stop Keith. He’s going to or could hurt someone. I can’t let him do that.”

“Ok then, good luck.” He paused, thinking of a way he could extend the conversation. “Oh yeah, we also have that simulator test coming up later today. You nervous?”

“Me? Nah. You shouldn’t be either, our scores have always been the highest, except when Keith went here” you said, remembering. “I surpassed him sometimes though.”

“ I know, but it isn’t all about the fighter pilot. We have to have a good communications specialist and engineer.” He added on, “Plus we have to have good teamwork with them. We both have good teams tough so we should be fine”.

“Yeah probably,” you said. You were now in the lunch line. Even though you were planning on facing Keith 12 hours from now, you were starting to get a bit nervous. You knew that you had to stop him though. You couldn’t let him hurt anyone. 

 

11 and a half hours later

You were running outside the school building, your black hoodie and ponytail fluttering in the wind. You could hear your heartbeat, adrenaline coursing through your veins. You stopped by the med center entrance, catching your breath on the wall of the enterance.

As you were catching your breath, you saw an unearthly purple beam streak across the sky. You then froze as you saw it crash around 20 feet from your current location. What the heck was that and what was going on? You hid in a corner as you saw the garrisons vehicles race over to the crash site. You saw them load up a body from the ship and take it over to the med bay. You ducked even more, still confused and curious about this whole situation. 

You checked your watch, it was 9:59. The bombs were going to go of any second now. You put your hands over your ears and closed your eyes as you braced for their explosion. 

After you heard them all go off, you readied yourself. You saw a red hover bike with white and aqua details draw near, with a figure on it who had a black mullet and a red jacket. Yep, definitely Keith. You hid and let him enter first, wanting to do a surprise attack. He jumped down from the bike, acting like a ninja and stealthy running towards the med bay.

When you saw him enter, you tiptoed inside. You were about to blindfold him him and take him away when you felt a sudden warmth on your wrist. He had grabbed your wrist, and before you knew it he shoved you against the wall. He then took a close look at you and realized who you are. 

“ (y/n)?” He questioned. 

The last thing you saw before you blacked out from the impact was a pair of dark purple eyes locking onto yours.


	2. Now you’re all alone~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Jess here. This is my first ever fanfiction so there may be some slight grammar mistakes. 
> 
> The relationship between you and Keith will be slow burn, the two of you probably won’t get together until the end of season 2. 
> 
> I will try my best to update at least once a week, maybe more if I have time. 
> 
> If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about His Rival let me know, I’d like to hear from you :)
> 
> As I’m working on this, Id really appreciate if you take my survey to give me input on what form the readers bayard should take. Here’s the link:quotev.com/quiz/11995412
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this next chapter

You opened your eyes and examine the room that you were in. You realized you were not in the med bay anymore, you were in a worn down messy shack. Books were in messy piles by the shelves with papers sticking out of them and the couch had lots of tears and rough patches. There were papers and photos everywhere and a big rectangular object with a cloth over it on the wall. Whoever owned this place obviously doesn’t care about organization or has no time for it. 

As you got up and help your head, three guys were coming towards you. One was a tall, tan, and skinny boy, with brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a brown jacket with stripes, a blue and white shirt, and jeans. You recognized him as Lance McClain. He was another fighter pilot in your class. Even though you didn’t talk to him much you knew him better than the other two. You only knew the other twos names because they were Lances team for the simulator. You didn’t have them in any of your classes.

The shorter one was Pidge. He was pale, had slightly longer caramel colored hair and hazel eyes. He wore circular wire-rimmed glasses, a green, orange, and white shirt, and black shorts. 

The other one was Hunk. He wore a long sleeve yellow shirt with a green vest and light brown pants. He was bigger in weight and height, had dark skin and shaggy black hair tied behind an orange banana.

They looked at you with a puzzled expression. They found you unconscious in the med bay and obviously had some questions. Especially Lance as he knew you better. 

“Sooo, why were you in the med bay”? Asked Lance with a skeptical tone.

“Gosh Lance, she just woke up, give her a break” Hunk said scolding his friend. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m ok I guess. I have a slight headache and my wrist kinda hurts but that’s about it. How did I get here?” You replied. You were as confused as they were. Hunk opened his mouth and was about to reply, but Lance cut him off.

“Hang on, we’re the ones asking the questions here. You still haven’t answered my question! Why were you in the med bay?”

“Lance!” Hunk said, trying to calm his friend down. “We found you unconscious in the med bay. Me and pidge carried you out on our shoulders while Lance and Keith got Shiro. We all climbed on Keith’s hover bike, evaded the garrison vehicles and ended up here.”

“Thanks for carring me with you. If I would have stayed there I could have gotten in a lot of trouble.” You replied. You didn’t want to think about what would have happened if you were still in the med bay. This got Lance thinking and he replied,

“Yep that sounds a lot like you (y/n). Usually you follow rules and greatly fear getting in trouble. Why was the model student outside past curfew. And why were you in the med bay? What even caused you to be unconscious?”

“Yeah I’m getting curious too” added on Pidge. 

“That doesn’t matter right now” you replied, reminding them of the situation. He “You guys said that you got shiro. Where is he? What happened to him?

“Oh yeah, Shiro!” Hunk realized. He is outside talking to Keith right now. You saw the ship crash right? Shiro was inside of it. He was taken to the med bay and they put him on medication so he went to sleep. Apparently he was abducted by aliens while on the Kerberos mission. Also, Pidge heard the same aliens communicate so they are real.

You couldn’t believe it. This was Shiro here. Shiro that went to Kerberos and went missing years ago. The legendary garrison pilot who had all those top scores!

Also, he was abducted by.. ALIENS!!. Aliens exist and they are evil! You were about to speak, your mind filling up with questions. Are they going to attack Earth? Are there good aliens? What do they look like? How powerful are they? You then realized that Lance, Hunk and Pidge probably did not have the answers. Shiro, however, might. You decided to get up and go outside. 

“Wait (y/n) we are not done yet!” called Lance. “You still haven’t answered my question!”

You just ignored him, making your way outside.

As you walked outside, your head throbbed even more. How did your head even get to this state? And why did your wrist feel sore? As you walked closer to shiro, you froze. Keith was right next to Shiro! As you walked closer, his purple eyes once again locked onto yours. This caused a wave a realization to wash over you. Wait a minute, you’ve seen these eyes before! Right before you passed out! Those same eyes... they were the eyes of the person who hurt you. Keith hurt you!

“Keith!” you shouted, stomping closer to him. As you drew near to Keith, Shiro headed inside the shack to talk to Pidge, Lance, and Hunk. When you saw him leave, you knew you had lost your chance to speak to him. That didn’t matter right now as you had a score to settle with Keith.

“Thanks for the headache and sore wrist by the way” you said, your voice dripping with sarcasm. 

“No problem” he retorted back. 

This made you even angrier. He didn’t apologize or anything. He really doesn’t care about others! You were boiling with anger at this point. 

“So you don’t even care that you hurt me. You didn’t apologize. You really don’t care about others do you?” you said, fuming with anger. You were going to punch Keith, but you remembered Keith had been violent before. You didn’t want to stoop to his level. He responded,

“Wait what? That’s not true! It was an accident, I did it on instinct! I was trying to defend myself! He said, trying to reason with you. He then examined you as to see how much he hurt you. Then he saw Your slightly red wrist. You heard a soft gasp from him as he realized. 

“I’m sorry (y/n).”You then looked at him coldly. He may have apologized, but his apology couldn’t heal your wrist. Besides, you didn’t know how sincere his apology was. He only said it after you brought it up, so you didn’t know if it was a real apology or not. Plus, you couldn’t trust him because of your history with him. He had done some shady things in the past.

You decided not to reply as you wanted to talk to Shiro. You walked inside the shack, Leaving Keith outside as he was working on his hoverbike. You went inside and walked towards shiro who was in the makeshift kitchen. When you went to talk to him, you realized that he really had changed. He looked a lot different now than he did before when he visited your class all those years ago. His hair was a bit more messy, with a tuff of white hair in the middle. He had a new scar across the bridge of his nose. You turned to look at his right arm. He had a black prosthetic hand! You shuddered as you wondered what caused him to need one. You considered asking, but you figured you wouldn’t want to know. Besides that, you still had some questions. You approached him,

“Um, hi. What’s going on here? All I know is that you were abducted by aliens, crash landed here, and were taken into the med bay.” He responded,

“I wish I could tell you. All I know is that the aliens that abducted me are hostile and they have a plan. I’ll explain more about them when Keith comes in to join us.” He explained. You thanked him for the explanation, but you had one more question for him.

“Before I forget, how did you get out of the med bay? Didn’t they put you under anesthesia?” you asked.

“Keith broke me out of there, well Keith and the others did. I wasn’t awake at the time obviously, Keith told me when I woke up and I believe him” he responded.

Ok, Keith broke shiro out. It made sense because from what you’ve seen shiro is the only person he cares about. Is this why Keith set those bombs hours ahead? It couldn’t be. You knew Keith well enough that you knew he had ulterior motives for planning to break into the med bay. How could Keith have known when to rescue him? He didn’t. It was probably just by chance that Shiro was in there when he went in there to do who knows what. 

Even though you were skeptical of the whole Med bay situation, you knew that this was no time for it. You needed to meet up with the others. Well Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, not Keith.

As you got situated on the lumpy couch, Keith walked in and stood next to shiro. When Pidge saw Keith next to shiro, she started with the questions.

”so these aliens that abducted you and your crew, could you tell us about them?”

“They are called the Galra and they are ruled by emperor zarkon. They have built ships and other technologies that we have only dreamed of. Even though they may be advanced, they still treat those who are different inferior. They are merciless, they take what they want from planets and civilizations and leave them to die. They only care about themselves and their goals.” 

Hearing all this just made you shake your head in response. How could people be so selfish and cruel? You have had lots of experience with people who only cared about themselves (cough cough Keith), but a whole race of them? That seemed impossible. Hearing all this information made Hunk nervous as he responded, stammering

“Where are they now? Are they coming for us? Where are they at this exact moment?”.

Shiro responded, “I can’t really put it together. I remember that they are looking for a superweapon of sorts, I think it’s called Voltron or something. I don’t know why but it’s probably not good. It’s on Earth and they are coming for it.”

“Well we have to stop them then” you responded. People hurting others by only caring about themselves was that one thing that really aggravated you. You hated it with a burning passion. That’s why you got after people like Keith. From what Shiro said though, these Galra were far worse than Keith. Heck, forget Keith. These Galra are a greater threat. But how could you stop them?

“How exactly are we supposed to stop them anyways?” Lance asked. You let Shiro answer this one, The last time you tried to stop someone on your own it didn’t go so well.

“We have to find it before they do”, Shiro responded, straight to the point. 

“And how are we going to do it exactly?” Pidge wondered. It could be anywhere on Earth for all you knew. That’s when Keith spoke up.

“I think I might have an idea.” He said, pulling the cloth from the large rectangular object. It had maps and pictures pinned all over it with a string weaving through the pins. 

“What have you been working on?” asked Shiro. It looked complicated and messy, but at the same time it made you even more curious. Keith responded,

“I can’t explain it really. After getting booted from the garrison, I was kinda lost and I was drawn out to this place. It was as if something, some energy was telling me to search.” 

Keith bringing up his expulsion reminded you of the reason he was expelled. It wasn’t a happy memory. It’s one of your worst memories to this day You remembered that James had ridiculed Keith mulitiple times by insulting him and his parents. As much as you disliked Keith, what James was doing was wrong. Ridiculing an orphans dead parents is extremely low. Everyone knew Keith was an orphan, but James still did it. You got after James for it, but he never stopped.

One day, after almost a whole class period of teasing, Keith had enough. You were walking in a deserted hallway with James when Keith came up behind him with a blade. Before you both knew it, Keith had turned off the lights and had put his arm around James in a headlock and shoved him against the wall.

“K-Keith!” You stammered, your eyes widening in fear. “What are you doing?” He responded,

“your boyfriend here needs to learn a lesson”

“Ok, One, he is not my boyfriend. Two, I don’t think I’m even his friend anymore. Three, violence won’t solve anything.”you responded defiantly. “What would Shiro think?” 

“Shiro. Is. Gone!” he growled, pointing the blade at James’ neck, threatening him. 

“Probably because of you!” James said, not even caring.

“James!” you scolded him, tears rolling down your face. “I’m done with you!” You couldn’t be friends with someone as mean as him. Not to mention, James just endangered himself more. Now Keith might... No he wouldn’t kill James! But what if he does? It wouldn’t really surprise you.

And with that you started walking from the crime scene, tears running down your face. All this was just too much. You just ended your childhood friendship with James! As you were leaving, you heard Keith say,

“Now you’re all alone~”. You looked over your shoulder to see Keith with a big smirk on his face. You continued walking. You heard James start letting out a high pitched blood curdling scream. It made your spine tingle and it gave you goosebumps. You definitely did not like that sound. With that, you started running. You heard James screaming after you, but that just made you run faster. And then, the hallway fell silent as you heard a hard thud as james hit the floor. This made you stop.

With James down, Keith went over to you. As you heard his footsteps, you started running. And with that, Keith started chasing after you.

The next thing you knew, you felt a hand grab your shoulder from behind. Hard. This caused you to trip and hit the floor. The last thing you saw before you closed your eyes was a pair of purple eyes locking onto yours. 

There may be some confusion about your friendship with James because you seemed to be friends in the first episode. What happened between your flashback just now and the beginning of the first episode will be explained in a later episode.

 

 

.


	3. A new journey

Back to the present 

For what?” Asked shiro. Shiros question just woke you from your daze. What was going on here again? You paused for a minute trying to remember. And then you recalled that Keith had just talked about how he was lost and felt drawn out to an area. He said that he felt like some energy was telling him to search. Shiro had just asked him what he was searching for. Keith responded,

“Well I didn’t really know at the time, until I stumbled upon this place” he said, pointing to a map with a big circle on it. “It’s an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each one tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share some clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then you showed up.” He said that last sentence looking at Shiro.

Well at least you had some idea where to look, but you didn’t have time to look through all those caves. Maybe if there was a more exact way...

“Well the other day I was looking in Pidges bag. Look! Here’s a picture of him and his girlfriend!” Hunk said, interrupting your train of thought. 

“Hey!” Pidge responded, clearly agitated as Hunk showed everyone a picture of a girl in a purple dress and long hair standing next to Pidge. “Why were you in my stuff?” 

“Well I was looking for a candy bar”, Hunk responded, trying to reason with Pidge. “And then I started reading his diary...”

“WHAT!” screeched Pidge. Hunk seemed to be getting off topic. How did any of this relate to finding Voltron?”

“... and then I noticed that the repeating set of numbers that the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line” Hunk continued, ignoring Pidge’s yelling. 

“Frown-who?” Keith asked, causing you to danpan. Of course Keith would forget what a Fraunhofer line was. You were in the same chemistry class as him and he spent too much time messing with experiments than actually listening. Classic Keith.

“It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element” you said, trying to explain to him. Hunk continued,

“Thanks (y/n), only this element doesn’t exist on Earth. I thought that it might be this Voltron. I think I can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron Geiger counter”.

“Hunk, you big gassy genius!” Lance praised him. 

“Nice job Hunk!”, you added on. 

“It’s pretty fascinating, really. The wavelengths look like this” Hunk continued, holding up a chart with lots of points with ups and downs between them.”

“Give me that!” Keith said, ripping the paper from Hunks hands. That was pretty rude, he really had no manners. You were about to tell him off but then you saw him compare the chart to a picture of a caves ups and downs. They were a perfect match!

Now you and the others were right in front of the cave. You were really finding this weapon now, no backing out. 

“Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky.” admitted Lance. You nodded your head in agreement. Everything seemed so surreal. Yesterday you attempted to stop Keith, your rival and now you were kinda working with him to stop a overwhelmingly powerful alien race. Not that you liked working with him, the alien race just needs to be stopped. 

“I’m getting a reading” Hunk said, the meter on his new invention beeping faster.

As you and the others walked in the cave, you saw all these symbols everywhere. There were lots of carvings that looked like lions, others little stick figures and other shapes. 

“Whoa” Pidge, Hunk and You gasped in amazement. This cave is like something from a movie or some sort of history book. It was massive and it seemed like it went on for miles at least. The farther you went it got darker and darker. Because of this, you stayed closer to the front. You didn’t like dark places too much. Lance seemed to notice.

“Hey, (y/n), I didn’t know you were scared of the dark” he teased smirking. This made Keith flinch as he knew why. You noticed his action, but didn’t say anything.

“What are these?” asked Shiro about the carvings.

“These are the lion carvings I was talking about”Keith answered. 

As you were examining a wall of the cave, all the markings started glowing an unearthly neon blue glow. 

“What the heck!” you exclaimed. How could the cave be glowing? There is no scientific explanation for this, it isn’t natural. Could this possibly be magic? No way! Magic exists? 

“They have never done that before!” Keith confirmed. You were going to respond, but suddenly, the ground below you started glowing blue and cracking. Before you knew it the floor fell out underneath of you.

Suddenly, the ground below you started cracking. As this started happening, everyone screamed including Keith. Then, you all fell into the unknown. 

After it seemed like forever, you bellyflopped unto some water. 

“ouch” you whispered. The impact hit you pretty hard.

You got out of the water, slightly soaked. Then you realized how wet you were. As you were getting out your gray and (f/c) shoes squished and squashed like rubber sponges. Your normally pin straight ponytail was all a mess, several strands were plastered to your face. Your (f/c) shirt was sticking to your skin. Then you had a mini panic attack as you realized that parts of the shirt had no coverage due to the water. You quickly zipped your black hoodie all the way up before you ran to find the rest of the group. 

You found all of them right in front of what looked like a cat transformer. It was a dark royal blue with lots of plain metal on the joints and mouth. It had glowing yellow eyes and neon blue details. You just saw Lance nock on the neon blue hexagonal force field.

To your surprise, it fell down after he did that. You thought that it would start defending itself by shooting or something. 

Then you heard a loud yet deep roar. After you heard the roar, you saw 5 other lions that are the same style as the blue one. You saw a black one that was much larger and more intricate. The red and green ones were slightly smaller and the Yellow one looked more bulkier. Then, you saw the silver one. It was sleek with a longer tail, it was similar to the red and green ones in style and size. 

You saw all six coming together, each one covered in a beaming light same color as the lion. Then you saw a huge flash of light as a new robot appeared. It was ginormous. All the lions combined to form it. The black one formed the head and the blue and yellow the legs. The red and green ones formed the arms and the silver one was the chest. All the other lions connected to the silver one. You saw the robot swinging a freakin flaming sword like it was nothing and striking a pose.

“Uh, did everyone just see that?” asked Lance.

“Voltron is a robot. Voltron is a huge, awesome robot!” exclaimed Hunk in response.

“And this thing is only part of it! I wonder where the others parts are” said Pidge, deep in thought.

“This is what they are looking for” concluded Shiro. 

“Incredible!” gasped Keith. You turned to look at him, his eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. It was a curious sight to see, usually Keith had no emotions.

“Wow” you said, looking at it. This robot was already so massive! The size of all of them together could topple a skyscraper easily. 

Suddenly you saw it move. It lowered its head to the ground, causing Hunk and Pidge to scream. It also caused you to take several steps backwards. Then it’s mouth opened, revealing a pathway inside. It was almost as if it was beckoning all of you inside. You let Lance go in first. You didn’t want to take any risks, so you waited until everyone had gone in to start walking inside. As you started walking inside slowly, your steps got louder due to the metal amplifying the sound. For some weird reason it felt like once you ascended these stairs there would be no turning back.

When you finally got inside, you saw Lance sitting on the lone seat, typing at the hologram keyboard. Everyone else was huddled around him, you stayed back a bit. You wanted to stay away as far from Keith as you could. 

In response to Lances typing, the lion roared, its roar vibrating throughout it. Hunk and Pidge screamed and Lance responded,

“Okay, got it. Now let’s try this!”. As he said this, he grabbed two sticks in the lions controls and pushed them forward. This caused you to be pushed backwards as you felt the wind being knocked out of you. You immediately closed your eyes and grabbed a latch in the back, preventing your head from hitting the wall. Your weren’t going to let your head hit any more walls any time soon. 

When you opened your eyes, you saw the desert landscape flying by you from the screen. The lion was flying, almost leaping through the air. You had to use all you energy and might to keep yourself upright as the motion was pushing you even farther back. Before space explorers like Shiro talked to your class about the intense forces put upon space explorers while flying a ship. Is this what they really feel like? This feels worse than they discribed. Suddenly the lion did a front flip and steeply propelled through the atmosphere as you asended into space. Pidge and hunk were screaming loudly as you were having both hands on the latch, eyes sealed shut and struggling to stay upright. 

“You are ... the worst ... pilot ever!” Keith yelled. Typical Keith. G forces coming at him and he’s still insulting. You had to agree with Keith on this one though. This did not feel like piloting at all, more like he was trying to make all of you sick. It made you feel a wave of sympathy for Pidge and Hunk as they had to deal with this in the simulator. 

“Isn’t this awesome!” squealed Lance, clearly enjoying this. 

“Make it stop please” stammered Hunk, pleading with Lance. 

“Oh I’m not doing anything, it’s like it’s on auto pilot” stated Lance with a smirk on his face. A smirk that you just wanted to wipe off. 

“Where are you going?” asked Keith.

“I just said it’s on auto pilot!” responded Lance, clearly annoyed with Keith. “It says there is an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we are supposed to stop it.”

“What did it say exactly?” asked Pidge. You didn’t hear it say anything which made your curious. Is Lance making this all up? He responded,

“Well it’s not really saying anything. It’s more like it’s feeding ideas inside my brain. Kind of”. Yep it sounded made up to you.

“Well if this thing is the weapon they are coming for, why don’t we, well I don’t know, just give it to them?” Hunk suggested. He was about to continue, but you interrupted him. 

“Hunk, have you already forgot what Shiro told us about the aliens?” This caused everyone but Lance to glance at you. 

“Oh hey (y/n), I forgot you were back there responded Lance. 

Shiro shot down Hunks suggestion. “You don’t understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There’s no bargaining with them, they won’t stop until everything else is dead.” Honestly you were thankful that Shiro spoke up, you really weren’t in the mood fit

Hunk was about to respond before you saw something big on the screen. It was this large long ship, with bright purple details. You saw all these little holes along the sides. Then, you saw purple laser beams shooting through them, trying to attack you. You all gasped.

“Holy crow! Is that an alien ship?” asked Hunk. It clearly looked like one. Shiro responded, “they found me” his voice full of guilt. All the while, the laser beams got closer and closer. 

“We’ve got to get out of here!” yelled Pidge.

“Hang on”, Lance responded. You all shouted as the Lion almost barely dodged laser after laser from the alien ship. 

“Be careful man! This isn’t the simulator!” warned Pidge. Even though Lance’s crazy piloting was evading the shots, it was still crazy and reckless.

Lance responded chuckling. “Well that’s good, I always wreck the simulator”. He pushed hard on a separate control stick as a bright blue laser beam shot out of the lions mouth and left at line of destruction along the side of the ship.

“Let’s try this” Lance said confidently as the lion’s claws dug into the ship, causing more damage.

“Nice job Lance!” Shiro complemented. 

“I think it’s time to get these guys away from our planet” Lance said as the Lion left Earths area. As soon as it did that, the ship started chasing after you. 

“Oh no!” Hunk said worriedly.

“It’s gaining on us!” warned Pidge, her voice full of anxiety.

“It’s weird. They are chasing us and not shooting” Lance observed.

“Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens chase us is good?” Hunk remarked. “I am not on board with this new direction, guys”

“Where are we?” Asked Keith. All of you were too focused on the alien ship, you forgot where you were. Shiro looked at the screen and responded,

“The edge of the solar system. There’s Kerberos.” As he said it, you saw Kerberos. It looked like a giant blue ball of ice, desolate and lonely.

“It takes months for our ships to get this far!” Pidge compared. 

“We got out here in five seconds” you added on.

All of a sudden, you saw a large dark purple circle in front of you. It had white spinning spindles like a galaxy with a glowing neon blue border around it.

“This might sound crazy, but it seems like the lion wants us to go through there.” Lance said.

“Where does it go?” asked Pidge, his voice full of uncertainty.

“I don’t know” Lance admitted. “Shiro, you’re the senior officer here. What should we do?” Everyone looked towards Shiro as he responded,

“Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we’re a team now. We should decide together.”

“What?” You said in utter disbelief. You and Keith a team? Working together?? The idea made you gag. The others seemed like decent teammates but Keith no way! As you were coming up with many reasons why not, you felt six pairs of eyes staring at you, some had eyebrows raised. 

“Nevermind” you muttered, realizing all the unwanted attention you were receiving. You tried to change the on the mission instead of your outburst. “So, are we doing this?”

“The whole team showed signs of agreement. Keith, Hunk, and Shiro nodded. Pidge put his hand on Lance’s shoulder in response. The whole team looked over to you and you gave your answer.

“Well we need to stop these Aliens so sure. Stopping them is more important than me getting in trouble with the garrison.”

“Wait, WHAT??” Lance responded in shock.

“Come on, we don’t have time for this, the aliens are on our tail” Keith said reminding all of you. It was as if he was saying that the team doesn’t have time for your input. Man, you did not like working with him. 

“All right, I guess we are all skipping class tomorrow” Lance stated as you entered the swirly purple thing.

What you were feeling before was nothing compared to what you were feeling right now. The force was so strong, you quickly grabbed your jacket, crumbled it up, and put it behind your head. You closed your eyes and put your hands behind your head. Little did you know that someone else was already pushed to the wall by the force. 

When you opened you eyes again, you were right in front of a planet that looked similar to Earth. You pulled your hands out from behind your head and examined yourself. No bruises, headache, or sore wrist thank goodness. Then you looked around you. Keith was slumped against the wall right next to you. 

“Umm, Earth to Keith?” you asked, trying to see if he was awake.

With that he jolted up, stared at you for a second and went over to the others. And then you realized you didn’t have your jacket on and your shirt was still wet. Yikes! Hopefully Keith didn’t notice. You quickly put your jacket back on and zipped it up. When you were done, you went over to the others. 

As I’m continuing this story, I would like your guys’ input on the readers bayard. Please comment any suggestions! If you


	4. The castle of lions

You started making your way to the others. You were walking slowly, trying to put as much space between you and Keith as possible. As you were doing so, the Lion suddenly sped up and jerked forward. You started to panic, trying to catch your grip on anything you could find. To make things worse, the Lion went into a nose dive, shaking more violently as it was going through the planets atmosphere. 

This caused you to start freefalling forwards. You let out a scream which catches the others attention. You covered your face with your hands as you braced for impact. Before you knew it, you had just slammed into your rival, your face ramming into the back of his head. You jumped back, the stench of his hair filling your nose. It smelled like you had put your nose in your shoe. lt seemed he hadn’t been able to wash his hair for months at least. 

As you turned to move away, you felt a hand on your wrist. You yelped, the throbbing pain from before coming back to your wrist. You grunted in irritation. Keith needs to stop this. You turned around, about to give Keith a piece of your mind. As you were doing so, you realized that Keith’s scowling face was only a couple inches away from yours. You tried to back away, but his grip on your wrist was still firm, causing you to grimace in pain.

“Watch were your going next time (y/n)” Keith warned, irritation in his voice. Now the entire team’sattention was on the two of you, but you didn’t care. You were so not dealing with Keiths attitude any longer. With your argument on Earth and now this? Keith really was being a pain, figuratively and literally. Didn’t he realize it was on accident?

“It was an accident, I never wanted to run into your stinky mullet!” You replied coldly, glaring straight into his purple eyes. You peeled his fingers off your wrist and crossed your arms.

“Ooooh, the hothead just got burned. Nice job (y/n)!” Lance said from the cockpit, clearly enjoying Keith’s embarrassment. 

“All right, knock it off.” No one is happy being in this situation but we’re here now. If we want to get through this, we have to do it together” Shiro scolded, looking between you and Keith as he said that last line.

“So what do we do?” asked Pidge. You sighed in relief and smiled at Pidge. You were very thankful that the attention was now off you and back on the mission on hand.

“First, we find out where we’re headed. Lance?” Shiro responded.

“I don’t know, Lance admitted. “I’m sorry, the lion isn’t talking to me anymore.” His tone changed, a bit more hopeful as he continued. “Wait! Wait, wait wait! Shh!” He said, whispering now. “Listen, I think I hear something.” 

“I’m hearing it too” Keith said quickly.

“It’s uh..., It’s kind of a... a high pitched squeal?” Hunk continued, uncertainty in his voice. Then, you all groaned, covering your noses in defense.” 

“Come on Lance, real mature!” you said sarcastically, not impressed with his immature act. He just continued smirking and said,

“But seriously, there is a castle up ahead.” As Lance said this, you saw a structure outside, on top of a grass colored elevated platform of dirt. It looked out of place as there were no other structures nearby.

“Wow” you all gasped, looking at the castle. The castle itself wasn’t like any castle you’ve seen on Earth. Sure there was a bridge at the enterance but that was about it. There was a white enterance area that led into a strange oblong shape curved into a point at the top. There were four structures on each side that looked like a cone cut in half. Decorating the structure were black details and crystal clear aqua glass accents which shone in the sunlight.

 

As the blue lion went towards the entrance, you tried to calm yourself down. You were brimming with anticipation, you had no clue about the outcome of your visit. Do any life forms live here? Would alien life forms here attack you? We’re they even remotely friendly?

 

Before you got too carried away in your thoughts, you tried to remind yourself to not get paranoid. This isn’t the garrison, you were not alone this time. You reminded yourself of everything that could help you if something happens. You had Shiro who had proven to be an excellent leader and strategist. Plus, you had the blue lion which was able to do serious damage to that one ship. You were going to be okay. You steadied your breathing by taking deep breaths in and out. You took out your ponytail and combed through your slightly damp (h/c) strands with your fingers. You then repositioned your ponytail, making sure it wasn’t loose.

“Keep your guard up.” said Shiro. You frowned at this instruction as it is something you still struggle with. It seemed like no matter how hard you tried to do this, especially recently, someone had been able to catch you off guard. Maybe Shiro could help you with that later.

“Something wrong?” Pidge asked Shiro, concern in his voice. 

“My crew was captured by aliens once. I’m not going to let that happen again”, replied Shiro, determination in his voice.

 

Suddenly the blue lion roared loudly, as if it was trying to send a message by vibrating the ground around you. In response, you winced, covering your ears. Then the gray details on a massive set of doors turned teal and the doors opened in a dramatic entrance.

“Hold for identity scan” boomed a robotic sounding female voice as circles of glowing blue light scanned you all heard to toe.

“Why are we here and what do you want with us?” Asked Shiro keeping his guard up as he said. You on the other hand were too busy examining the place you were in. The ceiling was so tall that the lion could have flown in with no problems. The floors and walls had tons of teal glowing outlines identical to those you’ve seen on earth. Not to mention, this security system was extremely advanced. It required no cameras or metal sectors and took very little time at all. Everything looked so modern and sophisticated, yet simple and clean. It surely was far more advanced than anything you had seen on Earth.

Within seconds, a pathway was brightened by what looked to be aqua colored gas. After a second, the gas cleared and revealed glowing crystals of the same color. 

“I guess were going that way” said Pidge.

You and the others walked through the castle, more crystals lighting up with every step you took. It was completely silent except for Hunk’s echoing “hellos” and your footsteps. After a minute of walking, you ended up in a huge circular room. 

“Where are we?” asked Lance. 

“It looks like some sort of control room” you responded as you saw a button on a platform light up. You gasped as you saw a pod like thingy rise up from the floor. Then another.

“... Are these guys dead?” Hunk wondered.

Then the cover on the first pod faded, revealing a woman wearing with a light blue and white dress and cape with gold and teal details. She looked like some sort of royalty as she had a golden band around her head and purple earrings. She had long white wavy hair and a dark skin tone. She looked like a normal woman, except for her pointy ears and light pink marks under her eyes. She opened her teal eyes and gasped,

“Father?” She started to fall down, right into Lance’s arms. Oh gosh, Lance better not try anything. 

“Hello~” Lance said, a flirtatious smirk on his face. You facepalmed in response, sighing in irritation. You really pitied whoever this was.

“Who are you? Where am I?” she asked, almost like she was in some type of daze. 

“I’m Lance, and your right here in my arms” he responded raising an eyebrow flirtatiously. This really angered you. Could Lance just knock off the flirting? Doesn’t he see how immature he’s being? This woman seemed to be confused and dazed and his first thought is to flirt? 

“Seriously Lance!” you yelled, annoyed with his behavior. “Could you stop flirting with the poor girl? She seems to have been through quite the ordeal and you are not helping.”

“What, are you jealous?” He replied, smirking at you. 

“No, there’s no reason to be. Honestly I pity this girl because you’re flirting with her”, you responded with the same icy tone and glare that you used on Keith. Usually you would only use it on Keith but Lance was seriously pushing your buttons at the moment. That silenced Lance, the flirty behavior now gone.

You sumgly smiled in satisfaction and turned around to see the others staring at you. Shiro was giving you a proud Dad-like smile. Pidge gave you a big thumbs up and Hunk was just standing there, slightly shocked that you got him to stop. When you saw mullets reaction, your eyes widened and you froze. He had a big grin plastered over his face. Keith Kogane, the stoic cold hearted boy that you knew from the garrison, was smiling. Not to mention, he was smiling at you! His usually cold purple eyes were softly gazing at you. The guy that hated you at garrison was smiling at you. Well it was now turning to a smirk, but he actually looked happy for once. You thought he had no emotions and now that he was showing them you were confused and surprised. 

Hey Lance, look who’s getting burned now?” Keith said, turning his gaze towards Lance with a smug expression, the competitive fire returning to his eyes. He was clearly enjoying that you were getting after Lance instead of him. You even saw the alien girl looking at you curiously, as if she was analyzing you. She then turned to Lance and realized that he had different ears than her.

“ your ears...” the girl said, bringing the focus back to her. 

“Yea?” He responded, a confused expression on his face. 

“They’re hideous. What’s wrong with them?”, she asked.

“Nothings wrong with them, they’ve heard exactly what you’ve said about them” Lance responded, trying to defend himself.

Then it dawned on the girl who Lance was. She realized that he was an alien and a stranger. One second he was just standing next to her and the next he was on the floor with his arm twisted behind his back and a hand squeezing his ear. That came out of nowhere, but you were very impressed with this girl. She was able to effectively defend herself and made it look so easy. You smiled sadly to yourself as you wished you were able to defend yourself like that.

“Who are you? Why are you in my castle? Where is King Alfor?” the girl said quickly and accusingly, as if she was interrogating him. 

“A giant blue lion brought us here. That’s all we know”, replied Lance pleadingly, his eyes starting to water from the pain. In response, she just continued firing questions.

“How do you have the blue lion?” What happened to it’s paladin? What are you all doing here?” She paused for a second before she continued. “Unless... how long has it been?”

“We don’t know what your talking about” said Shiro, trying to reason with her. “Why don’t you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help.”

“I’m Princess Allura of planet Altea” she said, introducing herself. “I’ve got to find out where we are and how long we have been asleep.” as allura said this, she raised her hand to the platform and a holographic screen popped up.

Then the cover on the second pod faded away, revealing a man in a white, blue and navy suit. He had orange hair and an orange mustache. He had beady like blue eyes and wrinkles. He had teal markings under his eyes. He gasped and screamed, realizing that there were strangers around him.

“Enemy combatants!” He leaped out and landed about a foot away from Lance. Unfortunately for him, he seemed to have hurt himself in the process. He grabbed the side of the pod, catching his breath. He then turned to Lance making hand gestures and said,

“Quiznak! You’re lucky I have a case of the old sleep chamber knees. Otherwise I would have grabbed your head like this, wrap you up like so and in one two three sleepy time!” 

“Well before you did that I’d do this” said Lance, high kicking his leg high into the air.

“Really? How would could you do that when I’d come at you like this?” he said, punching the air. “It can’t be”, the princess said in disbelief.

“What is it?” This got the man’s attention away from Lance as she continued, sorrow in her voice.

“We’ve been asleep for 10,000 years! Planet Altea and all the other planets in our system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization..”. She thought for a minute as if she was trying to figure out who was responsible for all this. “Zarkon!” she realized, her voice full of venom.

“I was his prisoner” said Shiro, letting her know that he had harmed him as well.

“He’s still alive? Impossible!” she exclaimed in disbelief.

“I can’t explain it but it’s true. He’s searching for a super weapon called Voltron” Shiro continued.

“He’s searching for it because he knows it’s the only thing that can defeat him” she said, determination in her voice. “And that’s exactly why we must find it before he does” 

“Princess, you must eat. It’s been ten thousand years” said Coran, trying to care for her.

“I’m not hungry” she responded. This interaction reminded of you of times when you went to the Garrison. When you were too focused on studying or flying the simulator to care for yourself, James would always remind you to take a break, usually bringing food for you.   
You smiled to yourself, remembering all those happy memories the two of you shared when you were friends. You missed those moments when James would drag you out of the simulator and towards your dorms. When he would crack a joke a joke to cheer you up or listen to you rant about Keith. Your smile turned sad as you remembered all those hard times after the incident. All the those that you were longing for someone to hold you close when you had a nightmare. All those times that you found yourself crying when you were in a dark place, wishing that someone was there to console you. You would always open your eyes only to find that there was no one there for you. You felt a tear role down your face and you turned your head to the ground, remembering all the pain you went through. You had been all alone for quite some time.

“Man ten thousand years?” said Lance, snapping you out of your sadness. “That’s like one thousand plus ten!” You rolled your eyes, his stupidity bringing a small smile to your face as you facepalmed. How did Lance get into the garrison?

“That’s times ten” replied Keith correcting him.

“Whatever dropout” replied Lance, a sour expression on his face.

You lightly chuckled to yourself before you added on smugly “More like he was expelled”. This made Shiro whip his head around and stare at Keith in shock, as if he didn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“Wait, what? You were expelled?” He asked the black haired boy.

“Heh, makes sense” said Lance. “Why thought, was it because of the mullet?”

“It’s none of your business, Keith responded, glaring at Lance and Shiro. He fixed his cold glare on rest of you and continued, “It’s actually none of any of your businesses”. Yep Keith was back to being a cold angsty emo boy with an attitude.

Allura turned to you and asked, “What is this expelled your talking about?”

“It’s when someone is forced to leave a place as a form of punishment” you explained. “Usually is because they did something really bad.” You said that last line knowingly, staring into Keith’s stone cold eyes as you knew exactly what he did. 

“Ok ok back on the topic of food” Hunk said, cutting the tension between you and Keith as you both looked at Hunk. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast and I’m starving.”

“Well you have thrown up like five times“ Pidge responded.

“Hmm good point” said Hunk, eating the food goo.

“I can’t believe your civilization created such advanced technology ten thousand years ago“ remarked Shiro. “It must have been an incredible place.”

“Yes it was, but now it’s gone and we are the last alteans alive” Coran said sadly as Allura went up to hug him for support. You wanted to go up to them and console them, but you were at loss to how to do that. Plus, it seemed to be a private moment and you didn’t want to butt in. 

“Looks like we’re not the last after all” said Allura as she found some pastel colored mice. They looked kinda cute compared to the ones you’ve seen on Earth, they looked more like some sort of guinea pig. 

All of a sudden, an alarm blared and a red screen popped up, showing a menacing ship that looked more powerful than the one you’ve seen before.

“A galra battleship has set its tracker to us!” Coran said panicking.

“How did they find us?” asked Allura, worry in his voice.

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s Keith’s fault.” Lance accused, pointing a finger at him. Why was he bickering? You were getting irritated with him, especially since this isn’t the time for it as you had to deal with the battle cruiser.

“And what evidence do you have to prove that Lance?” you scolded him lightly and continued, “I don’t like Keith any more than you do but that’s not a reason to accuse him.”

“Say whatever makes you feel better” ,Keith yelled coldly at Lance, completely ignoring what you just said. “After you got us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!” Keith was really getting on your nerves.

“Hey Keith lay off!” you yelled, a bit more venom in your voice this time. “We all agreed to go through the wormhole, you included. Don’t blame it all on him.”

“All right knock it off cadets” Shiro scolded. He smiled at you and continued. “(Y/n)’s right, were not placing blame, it’s no time for that. It’s time to work as a team. How long before they arrive?”

Coran answered while counting on his fingers, “ At their speed, I’d say a couple of days.”

“Good, let them come” said Allura strongly. “By the time they come here you six will have reformed voltron. And together we will destroy Zarkons empire.”

“Princess, there are six of these lions. How are we going to find the rest? asked Shiro. Allura then went over to the center platform. Two sticks with spheres rose up and she placed her hands on them. The room flashed with light and a huge holographic map was displayed around the room.

“King Alfor connected the lions to Allura’s life force” Coran explained. “She alone is the key to the lions whereabouts.”

“these are coordinates” you said as you recognized the numbers and letters from the garrison.

“the black lion seems to be in the same place as the blue one” Pidge continued.

“Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage!” exclaimed Coran. You didn’t really understand what he meant but took it as a complement. 

“Very observant” Allura responded, appraising you. “That’s because the black lion is in the castle.”

“To keep the black lion out of zarkons hands, king alfor locked it in the castle. It can only Be freed if the other five are present” Coran continued.

“As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It’s a mystical bond and it cannot be forced.The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his or her lion. Together they form something greater than science can explain.” Allura paused for a second before she continued.

“The black lion is the decisive head of voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and is in control at all times. Someone who’s men or women will follow without hesitation. That is why Shiro will pilot the black lion.”

“The sliver lion is the soul and conscience of Voltron. It connects all the other lions together and helps stabilize them. It requires someone with a strong conscience as well as a strong sense of justice and righteousness. Someone with the courage to do the right thing. Y/n, you will fly the sliver lion.”

“The green lion has in inquisitive personality and needs a paladin of intellect and daring. Pidge, you’ll pilot the green lion.”

“The blue lion-“ Lance interrupted her, smirking,

“Hold up, let be guess. Takes the best and handsomest pilot out of the bunch?” You all deadpanned before she continued.

“The yellow lion is caring and kind. It’s pilot is one that puts the needs of others before his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of voltron you will lift them up.“

“The red lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It is faster and more agile than the others but also more unstable. It’s pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instinct than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the red lion.”

“What this guy?” teased Lance. Keith frowned in response.

“Unfortunately I cannot locate the red lions coordinates yet” Allura admitted. “There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years it might need some work.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find it soon” Coran said. “They don’t call me the Coranic for nothing. That’s because it sounds like mechanic. So... Coranic mechanic. It’s not... it doesn’t sound exactly the same but is similar.” 

“Once all the lions are found you will have formed voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known. The defender of the universe,” Allura finished. As she said this, all the holographic lions flew towards each other and there was a big flash of light. Then you saw the massive warrior once more, the red and green were the arms, the blue and yellow were the legs, and the silver one connected all of them to the head. 

The robot looked very cool and modern. It looked like it could seriously do some damage and make a change. It was hard to believe that you were going to be a part of something so amazing. You were just a student at the garrison who couldn’t defend themself from Keith. You could with words sometimes, but otherwise no. How could you be able to defend others?

”Awesome” the others said in unison, you were just standing there lost in thought. 

“Wait, we’re going to be in there and in flying lions got it” Hunk summed up. “How do the lions turn into legs? Is it going to be a long trip because I have to pee. Do you people pee?”

“We don’t have much time” Shiro warned, starting to name the teams. ”Pidge and I will go after the green lion”.  
You then realized what was going on, horrified as your heart began to race. You were going by ourselve and one other person. You would be all alone, no one to stop the other person from attacking you. You crossed your fingers, hoping that you wouldn’t be put with Keith. Your last memories of being alone around Keith have ended with you being injured so you better not be put with him. Besides, you still remembered his past and you resented him for it. You didn’t like how coldly he acted almost all the time. At least you’re only cold when you need to tell someone off. He’s like a walking iceberg.

“Lance, you take Hunk and go after the yellow one.“ Oh no. No no no no no. Your going to be put with Keith. There was no other option. You clenched your fist and braced for your sentence.

“Keith, you and y/n will go after the sliver lion.” Shiro said, confirming your worries. You felt like screaming, but you didn’t want to cause a scene. Did Shiro even know what Keith did to you? Your heart felt like it was going to burst out of your chest. You took deep breaths before you rolled your eyes and sighed in irritation, slowly getting up and going over to Keith. This was not going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for not updating recently, this story is mainly on quotev so I’ve been focusing on it more there. I’ll make sure to keep updating it more frequently.


	5. The silver lion

You walked towards the pod and saw the cover fade away, revealing Keith sitting in the pilots seat. He was staring off into the distance, which was pretty usual for him.

“Hey why do you get to pilot?” you asked him, irritatied. It made no sense because you beat his simulator scores on multiple occasions. You were far better than him and he still got to pilot.

“I got here first. Plus I’m the better pilot” he responded smugly. 

“Since when were you the better pilot?” you sassed him. “As I remember, My simulator scores were higher than yours on several occasions.” 

Keith didn’t respond, he just turned his head away from you. In response you jumped up to the passengers seat. You sighed and rolled your eyes before you continued,

“If you want to be like that then fine, I get the detector.” As you grabbed the white detector, Keith turned on the engine and the pod rose up. You almost fell out of your seat.

“Keith!” you yelled at him. He gave you a smirk in response. 

You huffed in annoyance. You put your restraints on quickly as the pod was exiting the Bay Area and leaving the castle.

You had never flown with Keith before, you had only seen his simulator scores. Even though you didn’t want to admit it, you were impressed with his piloting. There were no bumps like when you rode with Lance earlier. 

You saw the hilly landscape race past you in seconds. You cutted through the wispy clouds and the sky faded away to reveal the darkness of space. It was only black for a second before you saw the familiar swirl of a wormhole.

“Ok the wormhole will only last a few of your earth hours so be quick” Allura said warning you.

“If you get stuck however, the planet could be a nice place to spend the rest of your life” Coran added on, smiling. To you however, this was no smiling matter.

“No way!” You responded, moving away from Keith as much as you possibly could in your seat. You definitely weren’t spending the rest of your life on an alien planet and you were certainly not spending the rest of your life with Keith. The idea of it made you gag. You would rather spend your time cleaning out the garrison than be around that boy. 

 

You landed on a brownish orangish looking planet. It looked much like the surface of Mars with no life forms for miles. Even though it looked empty and desolate, you saw some buildings nearby. They were barely hanging together, they looked like they got hit by a tornado or something. Something horrible must have happened to this place and the life forms living here.

You jumped out of the pod, a small dust cloud forming at your feet. You went over to one of the buildings and peered inside, wondering if some life forms were still there. Keith interrupted your thoughts by asking

“Hey, why were you in the med bay?” That was none of his business. You turned around to face Keith, crossed your arms and responded,

“Well why were you? What were you trying to steal?”

“Wait steal? I didn’t steal anything” He responded defensively, surprised by your accusation. He continued, “remember I said that my research led me to believe that there was some arrival coming to the area that night. I went there because of that and ended up saving Shiro.” 

“And knocking me out and giving me a purple wrist” you responded angrily, pointing your finger at him. 

“I already apologized!” he yelled, uncrossing his arms and pulling them to his side.

“Why should I believe what you say? Give me one good reason why I should because I don’t see any. You don’t deserve my trust” you responded, with venom in your voice. In response, Keith took a step back and was quiet for a moment 

“Well what about you?” he answered with a low voice. Then he began to shout. “You tried to attack me last night! Plus, you rattled on me when...

Before he could continue, you glared at him straight in the eyes. He wouldn’t dare bring that incident up. You heard a beep from your detector. You put your finger in front of your mouth, shushing him. The beeping noise got louder and faster as you moved towards a different building.

“It’s this way” you said, walking towards it. It looked more ornate than the others. As you looked at it more closely, you realized it resembled some of the government buildings on Earth.

Even though there were cracks in the structure and huge chunks missing, you could still identify detailed carvings and big stone pillars. you glanced at the room inside and the room’s layout. There were rows of benches on two sides of the room, it looked kinda like a gym with two sets of bleachers on both sides. There was a big chair and desk on an elevated platform close to the middle. There were two desks on shorter platforms surrounding the main one. You saw a medium sized ornate wooden hammer on the ground, close to the main desk.

Your heart sank as you realized where you were. You could recognize the layout of a courtroom no matter what planet you were on. The same layout that you’ve seen in your nightmares was right in front of you. You slowly walked with in a lump caught in your throat, just like you did last time. The only difference was that you and Keith were flanked with garrison guards but this time you walked in alone and vulnerable. 

“This is a courtroom” you said, your voice croaking. You were on the verge of tears, cradling yourself and shivering. You went over to the floor, getting overwhelmed with memories.

You remember wearing your nicest garrison uniform. The garrison had it crisp and freshly ironed, they didn’t want you to wear the wrinkled and slightly bloodstained uniform from the day of the incident. You wore your short black heeled dress boots you got for Christmas. Your hair was in a neat braid, done for you by your little sister Karen who also went to the Garrison. You would had done it yourself, but you couldn’t think straight at the moment. 

You could still hear the voices of the Garrison staff as they were gossiping in their seats about the incident. You could hear the Judge calling out you name, asking you to testify. You remembered wiping your tears away as everyone’s attention turned to you. What happened next was one of the hardest things for you to do. You remembered how hard it was to hold back your sobs as you recounted the events of that fateful day.

You felt a tear roll down your cheek as you remembered how anxious, terrified and weak you were in that moment. You could hear the rage of the crowd towards Keith echo in your head. You remembered when Keith was sentenced to expulsion. For some odd reason, you felt guilty. You knew you did nothing wrong by testifying, but it seemed like you and your testimony got him expelled. 

Then you rembered that Keith was here with you right now. He was watching you be weak and vulnerable, and you needed to have your guard up around him. Your sadness turned to anger at yourself for letting your guard down. You wiped your face with the sleeve of your jacket, trying to get rid of any evidence of your episode. 

You took your anger out on a loose brick by the floor, kicking it. This triggered a huge cloud of dust as other bricks rattled. You coughed on the dust and closed your eyes. When you opened them, you saw a a big pitch black hole in the ground. You put the sector by it and it went crazy. 

“I guess were going in there” said Keith as he went over to the hole. you cautiously lowered your feet onto a stone ledge and started climbing down into the darkness. With each step you took, the hole got darker and darker. It became so dark that you couldn’t even see Keith’s bright red jacket. You felt your heart rate go up as you saw nothing but darkness around you. You couldn’t see where you were going and you lost your footing. You screamed as you fell down the hole, arms flaying everywhere. You felt multiple sharp points graze your arms, back, and legs as you landed hard. 

When you opened up your eyes, you saw that the cave was filled with a silvery white light. You looked up and saw human sized glowing crystals with razor sharp points. They looked deadly, yet beautiful. They must be what you hit yourself on. You took a closer look at them and rest that they weren’t glowing, they were just reflecting and amplifying some light. You looked to your left and saw a tall figure, only sitting inches away from you. When you tried to get up to see who it was, your head started throbbing hard. 

“Ughh my head” you groaned, wincing in pain. 

“Umm do y-you need help” mumbled Keith. He stuttered so awkwardly that it sounded like he had never offered to help someone before. Even though you did need help, you couldn’t get it from Keith. You were too proud for that. Plus, you didn’t want him to tease you about it later. Why would Keith offer you his help anyway? It seemed like a trap.

“Im fine. I can get up myself” You said coldly, reminding him that you still hate him. You tried to get up again, but it was as if your legs were made of lead. 

“No you can’t. You need my help” Keith said, more confident this time. He stood up and reached out his hand towards yours. Unfortunately, this looked like your only way out. You needed to get up to find your lion.

“Ughh, fine” you responded, reluctantly putting your hand in his. For an iceberg, his hand was pretty warm. He pulled you up and slinged your arm around his back.

“You can walk right?” he asked you. You sensed worry in his voice, but you couldn’t tell if it was sincere or not. In response, you pulled away from him and brought your arm pack to your side. You winced in pain as your weight shifted back to your legs. 

“Your welcome” he responded sarcastically.

“Since when did you care? I thought you hated me” you asked him, crossing your arms.

“That’s right. It has nothing to do with me caring about you. We need the silver lion to form Voltron and defeat the Galra. We need the silver lion so we need it’s paladin” He explained.

“The lion, right” you said. You needed to find it.

“Where’s the detector?” you asked, frantically turning around to search for it. How could you find the lion without the detector?

“I don’t think you’ll be needing that” said Keith as he lightly tapped your shoulder.

“Hey!” you shouted. You were about to give Keith a price of your mind, but then you saw what he was pointing at. 

Your lion was in front of you. 

“Wow” You gasped, gazing at your lion. You practically skipped to your lion. Even though your legs were stinging, you didn’t care. You walked to your lion which was surrounded by the same type of forcefeild you saw on the blue one. It was glowing a magical silverly white color.

“So this is the source of the light” you said.

The lion’s basic design was the same as the blue ones. It still has the same face, glowing yellow eyes that seemed to be watching you and it still had the same snout like metal mouth. The mouth was a darker gray, less shiny than the rest of the metal. The chest area, neck, claws and joints had the same dark gray, with glowing aqua accents lining the curves of the metal. It had a much longer tail and the legs were a bit slimmer. The chest looked taller than the blue lion as well. All of the parts that were blue on the blue lion were a shiny, almost platinum silver. It looked like it was covered in mirrors. 

You put your hand up to the forcefield and whispered,

“Hi, I’m your paladin, y/n. I know I’m not exactly paladin material. I’m not strong enough to be one.” you admitted sadly. The universe needs a silver paladin though so please accept me.”

When you were finished, you heard a low purr and the forcefield vanished. 

The lion lowed it’s mouth and the bottom half flipped out, revealing a walkway towards the cockpit. You walked inside, the metal echoing your footsteps. The cockpit looked pretty similar to the blue lions, except the details were a silverly white. You slid into the black and white leather seat. It moved towards to the cockpit, and the screeen lit up. A holographic silver screen appeared, along with the control sticks and pedals. You saw the cave outside on the big holographic screen. You hit a couple of keys on the keyboard and the eyes lit up brighter. You were ready to fly. The words “incoming transmission” popped up on the screen as a holographic image of Keith appeared.

“So race you back?” he asked smirking. He was sitting in the cockpit of the pod all ready to go. You thought for a minute. On one hand you really wanted to wipe that dirt eating grin off his face. On the other hand, you wanted to interact with him as little as possible. However, now you will have to interact with him every day to do paladin stuff. You might as well get used to his company. You warned,   
“I don’t think that’s fair as the lion can go way faster.”

“Oh come on! I like a good challenge. Wait are you afraid that I would beat you?” Keith teased you, fueling your competive streak. Ok now he was on. He wasn’t going to get away with insulting you.

“No way. I can put pilot you any day any time” you shouted defiantly. You were so going to beat him. You squeezed the controls and grazed the gas with your left foot

“Prove it” said Keith smugly as he started up the pods engine. You shook your head, this was going to be too easy.

When you landed, you were so full of adrenaline that you were vibrating. That was definitely a rush. Sure, you felt one when you rode with Lance earlier, but this time you were racing. You were pushing it to your limit and the lions. You knew that you didn’t have to go that fast, but you wanted to cream Keith.

You took your hair out of your ponytail and combed though your messy (h/c) hair with your fingers. You repositioned your (f/c) ponytail and smoothed put your jacket. You checked the screen and still saw no sign of Keith.

You would have went to the others, but you wanted to be alone. You had so many thoughts racing through your head. Keith was just confusing you. Just last night he attacked you and then he hurt your wrist again on the way to the castle. Not to mention, he had caused you lots of trouble before. You had every reason to hate him and think that he has no emotions.

However, In the past day his actions had made you wonder if that was really 100% true. He apologized, smiled at you, and helped up you in the cave. You had to admit, racing him was fun. Granted, you enjoyed racing anybody, but Keith wasn’t anybody. You didn’t know why, but racing him was far more exhilarating.

You sat for a bit in your lion, hitting the keyboard and learning some of the functions. Then you saw a familiar pod race into the loading bay. You saw Keith get out and you walked out of you lion towards him.

“Told you the lion goes faster than the pod” you said smugly as you began to walk with him to the control room.

“Whatever” he said, irritation in his voice. ”Just wait till I get the red lion. Then we’ll see who the real winner is”. You rolled your eyes. He was such a sore loser.

“Ok, but I’ll still beat you.” you replied, your hand on your hip. Then you turned the corner and entered the control room walked.

“Y/n, Keith, you’re back early.” Said Allura happily. Then the door opened, revealing Shiro and Pidge.

“Hello” said Pidge.

“Hey Pidge” you replied.   
“How did it go?” Shiro asked you and Keith.

“It was ok” you responded as emotionless as you could. You didn’t want to tell them about your episode in the courtroom or your arguments with Keith.  
“Have you heard from lance and hunk” Shiro asked the Alteans. 

“Not yet I’m afraid“ replied Coran. Then he turned his attention to you and Keith. ”Why did you two go through the wormhole separately? Both of you seemed to be going very fast. Was there a problem?”

“N-No problems here” you responded nervously. Just then you saw a wormhole open back up from the rooms screen. The blue lion and the yellow one tumbled out of it.

Lance and Hunk walked in groaning and rubbing their heads. They look like they both went though a lot.

“You made it!” exclaimed Allura. 

“Yeah, just barely.“ complained Lance. “That was a nightmare. I almost puked. I felt like Hunk.”

“Think how I felt! I am hunk!” added on Hunk.

“Yeah, we had a pretty hard time too” replied Pidge. He smiled at Shiro who similed back. You thought that it was a bit suspicious as they were smiling.

“I bet y/n had the worst time because she was stuck with Keith” Lance said, turning towards you.

“Actually it wasn’t that bad.” Remarked Keith, turning towards Lance. “At least compared to everyone else’s experience”

“I wasn’t asking you mullet” Lance sneered, crossing his arms.

“Guys stop“ Shiro scolded, looking between Lance and Keith. “Did we find the red lion yet?”

Allura just located it. There’s a bit of good news and bad news” Coran answered.

“The good news is that the red lions nearby. The bad news is that it’s currently on the galra ship orbiting Arus. The good news is that we’re Arus, he explained.

“There here already?” asked Shiro.

“Yes my finger calculations were a bit off. Finger counting.. it’s more of an art than a science” explained Coran nervously. When he was done, a transmission appeared on the screen.

The creature in the transmission had purple skin and a glowing yellow slit for an eye. He had no pupil or anything, it was all yellow. His skin was purple and he had huge fluffy looking purple ears on the top of his head. Even though he looked ridiculous, he was nothing short of intimidating. Where his other eye should be was a large glowing orange prosthetic eye. He wore a black and red suit of armor. He had a meanacing scowl and he looked like he meant business. Just the sight of him ram chills down your spine. You grit your teeth and glared at him, even though it was just a message and he couldn’t see you.

“Princess Allura, this is commander Sendak of the Galra empire.” He boomed. “I come on behalf of emperor Zarkon, the lord if the known universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me or I will destroy your planet.”

“All right, lets not panic” ordered Shiro.

“Not panic?” Hunk stammered. “That scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship straight towards us. We only have five lions”

“Technically only four working lions” Pidge added on.

“That’s right, thank you Pidge. Four working lions and a castle that’s like 10,000 years old”

“Actually it’s 10,600. You see it was built by my grandfather” Coran stated before he was cut off by Hunk.

“Thanks Coran, thank you for that. See, now is the perfect time to panic” Hunk said anxiously.

“Wait this castle has a particle barrier that we can activate!” Allura said excitedly. You assumed she was talking about some sort of protective forcefield like the ones you had seen before around the lions.

“Girl you’ve already activated my particle barrier” Lance said flirtatiously towards Allura. This earned him a Keith level glare from you.

“Lance!” You and Shiro shouted at him in unison.

Of course Lance was flirting with Allura again. You weren’t jealous, but it seemed that all Lance cared about was a pretty face. Allura was very beautiful, so he flirts with her. You knew deep down that Lance didn’t flirt with you because you weren’t. That thought saddened you, even though you didn’t really care for his opinions. 

“The Particle barrier won’t hold Sendak’s ion cannon forever” Coran warned. ”The Galra must have upgraded their technology since the last time we fought them.”

“Panic now?” asked Hunk.

“No, we just have to figure out our plan of action and figure it out quickly” said Shiro, trying to calm Hunk down.

“I say we pop through the wormhole and live to fight another day” suggested Lance.

“I second that. We tried to find all the lions right? We gave it the old college try and we couldn’t do it. We only have four so we can’t form voltron. I guess we could form a snake, or a worm, to go through that hole that you are talking about Lance” Added on Hunk.

“Then it’s settled. Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy” Lance continued.

“We can’t just abandon Arus! The Galra will keep destroying planets and taking prisoners until we stop them” Pidge responded annoyed.

“Ok, if we run maybe then the Galra will follow us and leave the planet alone like when we left Earth. We form the snake worm thingy and hisss out of here.” replied Hunk. He turned to you and asked,  
“What do you think (y/n)?”

“I don’t know. You and lance have a valid point, we do t stand much of a chance here. But if we go, we would endanger the planet and any life forms here.” You responded.

“What’s not to know?” Keith replied, glaring at you. “Sendak could destroy the planet and come after us anyway. Staying is our only option. Keith said.

“Here’s an option, shut your quiznak!” Lance shouted at Keith.

“I don’t think your using that word correctly” retorted Keith.

“What do you know mullet?” replied Lance.

“We’re staying” Keith responded.

“Leaving!” Lance shouted in Keith’s face.

“Staying!” yelled Pidge.

“Snake!” added on Hunk.

“Guys stop!” ordered Shiro. “Princess Allura, these are your lions. You’ve dealt with the Galra empire before. You know what we’re facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?”

“I-I don’t know” she stammered, sharing the same perspective of you.

“Perhaps your father can help” said Coran. With that, the Alteans left the control room.

When Coran and Allura left, you went to talk to the others.

“Hey, Pidge, Hunk, Lance, can I talk to you guys for a second? you asked them, waiting in the hallway. In response they came out into the hallway with you, leaving Keith behind in the control room.

“Sure, what is it?” responded Hunk.

“Well I was wondering why you didn’t leave me in the med bay. You didn’t even know me and you still took me with you” you started, itching your neck.

“Well first, when we got in there, we found you on the floor unconscious” stated Pidge.

“Of I confronted Keith about it. I knew that he would stoop low enough to hurt you, and I was right” added on Lance. You didn’t know if he was trying to impress you or not by saying that, so you just shrugged it off.

“He said something about accidentally hurting you. He asked if two of us could carry you with us. He said something about making sure you were alright” explained Hunk.

“Wait, Keith said that!” you shouted in disbelief.

“Yep he did” confirmed Lance.

“What! How! He hates me! He’s a coldblooded jerk, he would never do something like that” you shouted, still not believing what you were hearing. Now he was confusing you even more.

“Yeah it made no sense to me either” said Pidge. I asked him why he cared but he said it’s none of my business.”

“Classic Keith” you sneered.

“Hey (y/n), if you don’t mind telling us, why were you in the med bay in the first place?”

“Well we’re probably going to have to work together so you might as well know. I did it to stop Keith.”

“What!” shouted Pidge and Hunk in unison

“Let me explain” you said, trying to calm them down. “I heard about him setting bombs as a distraction and realized that he was going to try to sneak into the med bay. I didn’t know why but I knew it was for a bad reason. I was going to blindfold him and turn him in. That obviously didn’t go to plan.”

“But why would it be for a bad reason? Why do you hate Keith so much?” asked Pidge.

“It’s not important” you mumbled. “It’s between me and Keith, I don’t want you guys to get involved.

“Well I for one am already involved since I hate Keith as well” added on Lance.

“Come on Lance, it’s none of your business” said Hunk, trying to get him to stop.

“I was just joking about getting involved, I do hate Keith though” replied Lance cooly. “Also Pidge, (y/n) doesn’t need a reason to hate Keith, he is just so hateable”

“Um Lance, “hateable isn’t a word” responded Pidge. 

“Paladins, please report to the control room” called Coran on the intercom.


	6. (Y/n), I need to tell you something

When Allura entered the control room, she looked like she meant business. She had an elegant white armor suit on. It had pink, blue, and black details along with aqua “v”s on her shoulders. Her hair was up in a bun and she was still rocking her earrings and crown. Even though she looked ready for battle, she was still an elegant princess. 

“You six paladins were brought here for a reason” she began saying with determination. “The voltron lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe’s only hope. We are the universes only hope.”

“We’re with you princess” Shiro responded, voicing your thoughts. You and the others left the control room while you were pondering the meaning of Allura’s words. Being called the universes only hope and all felt pretty overwhelming. You knew you could pilot well and you were averagely smart, but that was it. You scoffed at yourself, if you were the universes only hope, the universe doesn’t really stand a chance.

Compared to the others, you felt average and mediocre. You started to feel sad as you compared yourself to the others. You weren’t as good as a leader as Shiro nor were you as smart as Pidge. You couldn’t fight like Keith or be as sweet and supportive as Hunk. You got too irritated easily for that. Even Lance, with all his flirting attempts and such, he seemed to be pretty good at lifting others spirits and making light of a tense situation. You couldn’t do that, you were too serious.

You continued following everyone else until you got to a large area. You walked though a hallway with 3 evenly spaced doors on both sides that led to a large empty room. Allura placed her hands on a wall and a second smaller room appeared. The room now in front of you had six pods along the curved wall. In each pod there was a suit of armor, complete with a helmet. They all looked identical except for the detail color, which corresponded with the lions main color. You went over to yours which was on the far left. You may not act like a team with the others but you would definitely look like one. 

“Cool!” you said excitedly, snapping out of you faze. Even though the armor didn’t look as elegant and princess-like as Alluras, it still looked elegant in its own way. It also looked very sturdy and protective, ‘maybe the universe would have more of a chance if you wore it’ you thought hopefully.

“Boys and (y/n), it’s time to suit up” said Shiro.

“Yours rooms are down the hall” added on Coran, pointing towards the hallway behind you.

You went to your room, not caring to see who took the rooms around you. It looked like a basic college dorm with a bed, two dressers, a closet, and a bathroom. It seemed to have the same design as the castle. You decided you would explore it later, you had to put your armor on. You got undressed and slipped on the black body suit. It covered your whole body except for your head and it had gloves and socks built into it. It seemed tight at first but melded to your body shape in a matter of seconds. It felt quite confortable, but not too comfortable that you would fall sleep in it.

Then you slipped on the white chest plate, which also melded to fit you well. It didn’t feel as comfortable as the suit, but it didn’t bother you as you could still run around your room in it. Plus, it was so tough that you could punch your chest and not feel a thing. Maybe it was just because your punches were weak, but it still proved that the armor was strong. Then you slipped on the leg armor, belt and boots.   
You looked in the mirror and you saw all the matte sliver details on your shoulders, knees, elbows, wrists, and shoes glisten. They weren’t as shiny as the lion, but they were still reflecting some light. there was also a shape in the middle that looked like a v with a pentagon cut out of the center from the top half. You figured it was the symbol for voltron because it looked like a v, the first letter of voltron. You then slipped on your helmet.

You were expecting to feel your ponytail get shoved against your head tightly, but that wasn’t the case. It was like some kind of magic was magically expanding your helmet on the inside so that your hair fit comfortably. Unlike the armor’s transformation from before, The helmet didn’t look any bigger on the outside. You took it off and your hair was still the same as before. You figured the helmets abilities were because of magic, super advanced technology, or both. Either way, you liked them. 

You walked back to the armory, where Allura was standing over a long rectangular platform. You went over to her and the others. Allura placed her hand on the platform and five identical objects rose up. Like your armor, they looked identical except for the color that corresponds with the lions. You noticed the black one wasn’t there, perhaps it was stored somewhere else for security?

“The bayard is the traditional weapon of the paladins of voltron. Each bayard takes a distinct shape for each paladin” Allura explained as your bayard eerily floated over to your (d/h-dominant hand). You wondered how these strange oblong objects could become weapons. They didn’t look they could do much damage besides strengthening your baby punches like a boxing glove.

You grabbed onto the metal handle and it gained a longer end, glowing a soft teal as it transformed. It stopped glowing teal, revealing your bayards form.

It looked like some sort of sword or extra large dagger. The blade looked to be about 2.5 feet long and it looked to be only five inches long on the handle. It narrowed into a pointy tip at the end and it was slightly curved. It looked as if it had two blades, one was small, white, and only was a few inches from the handle. It was outlined in black and had a glowing teal strip on the left side. It seemed to be part of the handle of the second blade, but when you lightly ran your gloves fingers over the edge it felt like sharp metal.   
The second blade looked frosty and translucent. It was much longer and was glowing silver. You thought your eyes were playing tricks on you but then you put your hand up to it and you saw it illuminate you hand in a silverly glow. It was as if it was electric or something with the light it gave off. It looked more dangerous and sharp than the other blade, you wouldn’t dare touch it with your gloves fingers.

Then a large 3.5 ish feet rectangular shield popped up from the silver armor on your wrist. It was clearer than your sword and it seemed to be slightly glowing, but not as bright as your sword.

 

You looked around the room and saw everyone else’s bayards. Hunk got a large gun that looked more like a small cannon or tank. Lance had a lightweight blue laser gun which he was striking poses with. Pidges didn’t seem to have much of a difference compared to before, it was lined with a bit of sharp florescent green material with a pointy tip. It seemed to glow similar to yours, just a bit dimmer. You looked over to Keith who had a red and white sword. It looked larger than yours, but not as sharp. It wasn’t curved or translucent whatsoever either. You saw him slice the air, but it didn’t leave a faint glowing tail as it glided through the air. He also got a shield on his other hand, just like you.

“Aww, you get a cute little bayard” Lance taunted Pidge. In response, he swiped his weapon at Lance, causing Lance to get zapped.   
“Yeah it is pretty cute” Pidge retorted, smirking at Lance. 

“Nice one Pidge!”you said, smiling at Pidge. Pidge was about to respond when Keith cut him off.

“Nice glow toy (y/n)” he said smirking, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I bet you don’t know how to use a sword”.

You rolled your eyes at him. Sure, you weren’t the best at using a sword, but at least you had some experience with foam ones. Plus, he seemed agitated ever since your bayard transformed, maybe he’s jealous. You responded coolly,

“You’re not that good at hiding jealousy Keith. I’d prove that I do know how to use a sword, but this isn’t the time for that.”

“That’s right (y/n), we don’t have much time until Sendak comes” Allura warned anxiously, reminding everyone of the upcoming battle. “Shiro, I’m afraid your bayard was lost with your paladin” she continued, turning towards the black paladin.

“I guess I’ll have to make do” Shiro replied, fidgeting with his Galra arm. You thought he might use it as a weapon as it looked stronger than his other arm.

“You'll need to retrieve the red lion from Sendak’s ship” Shiro told Keith. You were back in the control room and you were discussing the plan for the upcoming battle.

Keith responded, “Thats a pretty big ship, how are we going to know where the red lion is?” You were going to state the obvious: use a detector, but you realized that it wouldn’t work. The Galra could probably jam the detectors signal or pick up the detector on their scans, alerting them of Keith’s presence. Even worse, they could keep the detector and use it against you in the future to track down Voltron. 

“Well, it’s not a matter of we, its a matter of you” Pidge informed Keith. You agreed with him, it’s best that you split up so that you could sidetrack the Galra. Plus, you didn’t want to work with Keith again today unless it was absolutely necessary. You hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but you had a bad feeling about this battle. You didn’t have much experience fighting with the lion, and Sendak seemed to be a dangerous, top of the line, killing machine.

“Pidge is right. Once your in, you’ll be able to like sense it’s presence and track it down” Hunk added on. 

“Yeah, you know how you felt that crazy energy when we were in the cave in the desert?” Lance asked Keith. 

“Yeah, you made fun of me for that” Keith responded bitterly. By the tone of Keith’s voice, it sounded like Lance had actually hurt Keith’s feelings. This further perplexed you as Keith usually acted like he didn’t care what others said about him. 

“And I’m proud of that, but it turns out that its exactly like that mumbo jumbo” Lance continued. 

“Keith, remember that the red lion is extremely temptremetal. You are going to have to earn it’s respect.” Allura reminded. You knew that Keith would have some issue with that. Never once in his time at the garrison did you see him wanting to earn someone’s respect. Nevertheless, he always managed to impress your teachers or Shiro whenever he did well on a simulator or test score, winning some level of respect from them.

You didn’t think the Lion would be impressed by that. If that were the case, the lion would probably already be bonded to some Galra pilot. You had to bond on an emotional level with your lion by letting it know your personal thoughts. You didn’t think Keith would know how to earn trust that way or any other way.

You raced out of the castle and out to space with Shiro in your cockpit.

“Nice work (y/n)” he complimented you. 

“Well I’m not as good as you” you responded sheepishly. You didn’t expect to be complemented by your role model.

“Well I wouldn’t be surprised if you and Keith outfly me someday. The two of you are some of the best pilots I’ve seen come from the garrison. He removed his helmet and continued, “Don’t tell Keith this, but honestly you might be a bit better, you’re more level headed.”

You didn’t know what to say in response, you just blushed, which was your usual response to complements. Of course it wasn’t because you felt anything romantic towards Shiro which you didn’t, that would be weird. Not only is he your leader now but there was an age gap of 8 years. No thanks. 

Then you took off your helmet, turning off the microphone so the others couldn’t hear. “Uh, hey, thanks for not putting me with Keith” you began, trying to get rid of the awkward silence that had come upon the cockpit.

“Well the two of you don’t seem to get along, and we don’t need you bickering during missions. Is there a certain reason behind it?” Shiro responded.

You bit your lip and restrained your urge to tell him everything. It had been so long since you opened up to someone, you had been bottling it all up for 3 years now. Not to mention Shiro seemed trustworthy and willing to hear what you had to say. Even though it was tempting, you didn’t want to burden him with all your emotional baggage. Plus, you just didn’t feel comfortable with someone knowing all that information, even if they’re your idol. You only really knew him for a day or so anyways.

“It’s complicated” you said simply, trying to end the discussion about you and Keith. 

“Well, whatever it is, you are going to have to work it out. We are going to have to work together to form voltron and defeat the Galra” Shiro finished. You were greatful that he dropped the topic instead of nagging you about it. 

You and Pidge flew to the back side of the Galra cruiser. Hunk and Lance just provided a distraction for you by pretending to give themselves up. Everything was going according to plan. You landed in a spot and anonymously broadcasted a signal that you got from Coran that jammed the Galras scanners in the area.   
Then you exited the lion and headed to the haul of the ship using your jet pack. They seemed to be controled by your mind, when you thought that you needed to go faster they would boost you faster. When you got to the haul of the ship, you decided that you would try out your bayard. It seemed sharp enough to cut through the tough shell and it turns out that you were right. The metal sizzled and charred as you stabbed the side of the ship and started to carve out a large circle. You were able to do so effortlessly, it was as if you were cutting though butter. Then, Pidge, Keith, Shiro, and lastly you floated inside. 

“Pidge, what’s your ETA?” called Lance through the intercom.

“We’re in” he whispered back. Then you quietly but quickly ran through the ship. The inside of the ship looked pretty basic, it was just some boring hallways with some symbols at the end. They were all lit by purplish almost magenta like crystals on the walls. The Galra really were all business, they didn’t seem to care about decorations or style.   
When you turned the corner and started to walk through the first hallway, shiro grimaced and held his head with his hands. Shiro was kept by the Galra for years, he must have had many traumatic memories from here that were far worse than your incidents with Keith. You knew all too well what traumatic memories felt like, so you decided to try to help Shiro. You didn’t care if he others saw you weak or desperate in that moment as you said worriedly,

“Shiro! are you alright?”

“I’m fine” he responded, composing himself. “I have been here before, when the Galra cruiser left Kerberos, they brought us here.”

“So that means your other crew members, they may still be here” Pidge said hopefully. This made you curious, sure Sam and Matt Holt meant something special to lots of people, but Pidge was acting more excited about the possibility of finding them than any of the Garrison instructors. “We’ve got to rescue them!” 

“Pidge, we don’t have time. We have to find the red lion and get to Arus” Shiro responded lowly with a sad expression on his face. You remembered how whenever Shiro was with the Holts at the Garrison, they acted like family. You knew that they were very close and the idea of leaving them behind must haunt him. 

“But we can’t just leave prisiobers here!” Pidge shouted louder with conviction.

Shiro sighed and responded, “Look, no one understands that more than me. But in war we have to make though choices”. 

“No! Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were on the Kerberos mission with you!” Pidge shouted desperately. It made sense that he would care so much about them if they were his family, but something didn’t add up. When Matt and Sam Holt misteriously disappeared after the Kerberos mission, The Holt family became a popular topic on the news. Their mom never said anything about having a 15 year old son though, she said she had a 15 year old daughter! Could Pidge possibly be Katie?

“Commander Holt is your father?” Shiro replied, surprised.

“Yes, and I’ve been searching for him and my brother everywhere. I won’t give up when I’m this close. I can’t! He responded stubbornly.

“I’m coming with you” said Shiro.

“What?” Keith responded.

“I remember where the prisoners were kept. I can help you find them” Shiro explained. “Keith, you find the red lion”. He turned to you and added on, (y/n), why don’t you go with him, he might need help.”

You immediately shot down his suggestion. “No, I wouldn’t be much help, I’ll just slow him down. Besides, someone needs to guard the entrance and the lions.”

“All right. Let’s go Pidge” said Shiro as he and Pidge continued down the hallway. Keith turned to the hallway on your left, leaving you alone. 

 

You figured you wouldn’t give much support without your lion if something were to happen as you didn’t have much fighting experience. You flew into the lion and sat on the seat for what felt like hours. You saw nothing change on your screen and you had played with every settings option inside your lion available. You completely read through all the weapons and their capabilities and you had braided and unbraided your hair until it was all curls and slid your helmet back on. You sighed to yourself and said,

“This is boring but it’s way better than being with Keith.”

“Hey I heard that!” you heard someone say sharply from your helmet.

“K-Keith!” you shouted jumping out of your seat. You forgot you still had the microphone option on. 

“Hey my lion isn’t responding to me, any ideas?” he asked you.

“Why are you asking me?” you responded skeptically. Why didn’t he ask Shiro or Lance or literally anyone else? 

“The others are busy” he responded simply. “Plus Shiro told me to”.

“Shiro!” you called, almost growling.

“Remember, y/n, we need to work together” Shiro reminded you calmly. 

“Uggh, fineee” you complained. “Didn't Allura say you have to win it’s trust?”

“And how exactly am I supposed to do that” he responded, not satisfied with you previous answer.

“Well it’s not that different than winning the trust of people” you explained. “You need to bond with them on an emotional level. You can do this by proving that you care about them.”

“Ok” Keith responded without a thank you or anything. You turned off your microphone and sighed to yourself.

“Classic Keith.” Less than a minute after, you saw a dark purple pod race out the ship toward Arus and you saw the familiar figures of Shiro and Pidge come out to the free lion.

“You guys made it!” Hunk said joyfully.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we” you responded.

“Kitty rose has left the stage!” exclaimed Pidge. To you, this basically confirmed that “Pidge” was a girl. You had a huge hunch before, but “kitty rose”? She sounded just like your sister. 

“Lets get the heck out of here!” Lance said excitedly. 

“I hope I stopped that cannon, I hardly Made a dent in it” Hunk added on nervously. 

You were in your lion which was back in the castle. Your lion and the other four were sitting in a semi circle around a massive doorway. Shiro was standing near the doorway which supposedly led to the black lion.  
One by one, all the eyes in the lions glowed brighter. When your lions eyes finally got brighter, so did the inside of the cockpit. It filled with a light pale yellow color and then you heard a deep roar vibrate through your lion. Then it got louder and louder until the whole room felt like it was shaking as each lion joined in. 

The sliver panel slid up, dramatically revealing the black lion bit by bit from the bottom up. It was far more detailed and it was much larger, but you didn’t spend too much time staring at it, you had voltron to form.

“Sendak is entering the atmosphere, we need voltron right now!” Allura warned you. Then, the ground began to shake and you felt an immense pressure push you towards the ground.   
“That must be their cannon” you concluded as you all raced out in your lions and sat right near the edge of the particle barrier.

“Man those Galra guys repair things fast! Hunk said amazed.

“The barrier gets weaker with every blast” Coran informed you. Allura continued,  
“I can give you some cover for now with the castle defenses, but you need to form voltron soon or all will be destroyed!”

“Geez, no pressure” said Lance sarcastically.

“Listen up team voltron, the only way we can succeed is to give it all we’ve got. This looks bad, but we can do this. Are you with me?” asked Shiro determinedly. 

“Im nodding. Is everyone nodding?” Hunk asked everyone awkwardly. 

“Yes” you responded deadpanning.

“Let’s do this!” continued Shiro, leading you all outside the particle barrier and into the war zone.

“Um, how?” Lance asked. As soon as you got out of the barrier, countless little fighter planes began to mercilessly smoulder you like ants. You dodged plans after plane, but they still kept coming.

“Good question” responded Shiro. “Does anyone have an idea how to form voltron?”

“I know I’m supposed to be the connector, but I don’t see any buttons or control sticks for that” you replied, shooting a nearby fighter with your tail laser.

“Yeah, no combine to form giant robot here” added on Hunk.

“This is insane, can’t they just cease fire for a minute while we figure this out. Isn’t that too much to ask?” commented Pidge angrily, using her lions jaws to crush a fighter and throw it at another coming right towards her.

“We’ve go to do something!” said Lance desperately. The odds were not looking good for you.

“Combine!” Hunk shouted, ramming his lion into Keith’s.

“Hey!” Keith scolded. 

“That didn’t work” whispered Hunk awkwardly.

“Quickly paladins, our energy levels are getting low” called Allura from the castle.

“Maybe if we fly in formation we’ll combine” Keith suggested.

“Take off in my cue“ commanded Shiro. “One, two three, voltron!”

“Here we go!” Commented Lance as you all began to fly straight up.

“Come on, come on” Keith said impatiently.

“Hopefully it won’t take much longer” you said, feeling a fighter shoot at your lions back.

“Nothing is happening” stated Hunk.

“Hey, wait, wait, I feel something!” Lance said, excitement in his voice. 

“Yeah, me too, it feels like we’re all being pulled in the same direction!” Pidge said, becoming more hopeful.

“Uhh guys” you said, looking upwards to see that you were being pulled in by a purple beam from the Galra ship. You were starting to get really nervous now. Your heart was racing and you felt your hands sweat in your gloves.

“Look up!” Shouted Shiro, realizing what you were warning about.

“What the cheese!” Lance said surprised.

“Sendak is drawing us in like a black hole!” Pidge remarked. Then you looked at your screen and saw the castles shield go down. It was defenseless and doomed, and you couldn’t protect it any longer.

“Oh no!” you said, worring about Coran and Allura. 

“I don’t care what you say shiro, I’m panicking now” Hunk stammered.

“It can’t end here!” Pidge shouted stubbornly.

“No way am I going down like this!” You said desperately. There must be something you could do. You weren’t going to die today, you still had your whole life to live!

“This is it” Lance added on sadly, as if he had given up already. 

“It’s been an honor flying with you boys.” Keith said seriously. “Y/n, I need to tell you something before it’s too late.” He continued. This made your eyes widen and your heart race even more. You turned up the volume on your helmet and got ready to listen, but Shiro interrupted Keith. 

“That can wait. It’s not too late. We can do this, we just go to believe in ourselves. We can’t give up. We are the universes only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can’t fail! We won’t fail! If we work together, we’ll win together!”

Shiro was right. No way were you going to go down without a fight. You couldn’t let the Galra hurt any more innocent lives. You thought about your family on Earth and how they are depending on you right now. You wouldn’t be able to protect Earth or any other planets if you gave up. They all weren’t just depending on you though, they were depending on your teamwork with the others. For a moment, you didn’t care about Keith or his past with you. You were willing to put aside your differences to save the universe.

You saw a glowing button pop up on your screen saying “form voltron” on it. You took your left hand off the controls and slammed the button.

Instantly you felt a huge have of energy as the other lions were pulled to yours as if you were one giant magnet. You felt your cockpit area slide down into the chest of your lion and you saw tons of screens around you pop up. The Black Lion locked into place where the head of your lion used to be and the legs folded in. The legs of all the other lions retracted as they formed their respective body parts. The Green lion slid onto your lions left arm and the red one slid onto your right arm. The blue and yellow lions slid onto your legs. Then the head of the black lion transformed as everything locked into place. 

“I can’t believe it!” Lance said excitedly, now full of hope. 

“We formed voltron!” Keith added on.

“Im a leg!” exclaimed Hunk.

“How are we doing this?” Shiro asked.

“Well right after Shiro gave his speech a form voltron option button appeared on my dashboard” you explained.

“Nice one y/n. Now let’s get that cannon!” Shiro ordered. Then you as voltron flew over to the ion cannon. Pidge and Keith litterally fore the cannon off the ship with their lions! The Red lion punched the ship and shot off laser inside and the green lion did the same. Before you knew it you smashed through the ship, causing it to finally explode.

You walked back to your room exhausted. You ran all the way back to your room and the adrenaline from the battle was starting to wear off. You just got done discussing the battle with the others, but you were spacing out through the entire conversation.

 

You only remembered bits and pieces. You just remembered that Shiro consoled Pidge about her family and The Alteans overwhelmed you by telling you what you would have to face in the future. The entire time you were busy thinking about what Keith said earlier when you were being pinned down by that Galra crusher. What could he possibly want to tell you? Even though you were tired from the battle, this curiosity could keep you up all night. You had to ask him.

Just then you saw said mullet boy walk through the hallway and towards his room. You approached him and asked,

“Hey, what were you going to tell me earlier?” He turned to you and was quiet for a moment before he responded,

“Oh nothing, It’s not important” he responded defensively, avoiding eye contact with you. You raised your eyebrow at him, he was acting pretty suspicious. If it was important enough for him to tell you something in heat of battle, when his time was limited, than it must be too big to just shrug off. Whatever it was, he didn’t seem to want to talk to you about it now. Even though you were still curious, you didn’t want to push it. You didn’t want an angry Keith on your hands, plus you wanted to ask him something else.

 

“Ok then, you don’t have to tell me” you said, trying to calm him down. “Hey Keith?”

“Yeah?” He responded, turning towards you again.

“Why did you help me earlier?” you asked. “Why did you ask Pidge and Hunk to carry me back to the shack when you could have easily left me there?”

“I wasn’t going to leave you in that med bay, not after I accidenly attacked you” he said, making eye contact with you. He had a soft smile on his face as he continued. “I had to make sure you we’re all right and all. Plus, if I left you there the garrison would have figured out what had happened and they would have came for me.”

Keith’s response left you lost for words. He was acting so sincere, and as you looked right back towards his violet eyes, you could tell he was telling the truth. You felt your heart slightly melt and without knowing it, a small smile came to your face. 

 

“Well, uh, thank you.” You said stammering. Then you realized what was going on. You were acting all happy around him, and that needed to stop. He was still your rival after all. The two of you were acting like friends or something at the moment, and that just felt too weird. ‘You are rivals for a reason’ you thought, reminding yourself about everything that had happened between you and him at the garrison.

“This doesn’t change anything between us, right?” You asked him.

“What do you mean?” he responded.

“We’re still rivals right?” you continued.

“Of course” he replied, giving you his usual smirk. “You still owe me a race, remember?”

“Yes, so first thing tomorrow morning?” you responded. You were so going to beat him tomorrow, that would be a great start to your day.

“Tomorrow morning, 7 am” he confirmed, nodding.

“Ok, see you then. Goodnight Keith” you said, going inside your room.

You saw a orangish translucent slate, about the size of a phone on your dresser. You tapped a button on the side of it and it turned on. You saw all these symbols with letters under them appear on the screen, and you selected the one that was shaped like a clock. Then you set an alarm for 6:15 the next day so that you would have time for breakfast and getting ready before your race.

 

Then you opened up your dresser and you saw an assortment of clothes, color coded with your lion. You found a set of pajamas that were a very light gray with darker grey accents around the edges. The darker grey accents seemed to be made of a slightly reflective sliver material. You got out of your armor, and a tube came out of the wall to hold your armor, which was identical to the pods you saw earlier. You put your armor in it and slipped on your pajamas.

You plopped down on your bed, you had a big day ahead of you and you would need your sleep to race Keith.


	7. Aim it at him

You swiped your sword at the air, leaving a hazy sliver glow in its path in the dark hallway. A sliver aura surrounded your (d/h). It trailed up your arm and down your thigh, fading away into the dark more and more the farther it was from the sword.

You swiped at a wall and electric arcs raced along the surface, leaving two dark gashes. You heard the metal in the wall char and sizzle. You put your hand up to them and they still felt warm to the touch. 

You decided you needed some sort of target practice. You scorched a rough bullseye into the wall. Then you stepped back a couple of feet and threw your bayard into the wall. You heard the metal portion of it clang against the metal on the wall. It had sunk into the bullseye.

 

“Nice job” echoed a fimiliar voice. You turned around to see James smirking at you. This didn’t seem like his usual smirk though, something was off. He was looking much more sinister and evil. Then you saw Keith walking through the hallway.

“Next time, aim it at him” he instructed, putting an ice cold hand on your shoulder. He gestured to Keith who had his back turned.

“No, I can’t do that” you said, shaking your head. You may not like Keith exactly, but you would never seriously injure or kill him. You hated the idea of doing that to anyone. You would only do something like that in extreme situations such as self defense or defending someone else. Even then you would still do such a thing with a heavy heart. 

“And why not?” He asked you, bringing his face only inches from yours. “He’s your rival. You hate him. Don’t you remember what he did to me?”

“Fine, have it your way.” he said. Then he kissed you roughly without your consent, leaving you shocked and speechless. You felt your body freeze up and your eyes started to water. That hurt more than anything you had experienced before. You thought James actually cared for you, but he was acting so cold hearted that Keith paled in comparison. James nodded at you, as if he was proud of his effect on you. Then he took the bayard from the wall and it turned into a even more deadly silver dagger. His voice got deeper as he took an even more menacing tone that sent shivers down your spine.   
“I’ll do it myself!” he yelled, starting to charge towards Keith.

“Keith!” you shouted, trying to warn him about James. 

 

Then you woke up in a pool of sweat.


	8. Ready to lose Kogane?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (l/n)- your last name

You changed into your usual outfit. You brushed your hair into its usual ponytail and continued getting ready for the day. You didn’t know what time it was, but you did know that you wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. You still felt shaken up from your nightmare. It felt so real and now you couldn’t get James evil smirk out of your head. 

Even though your dream felt so vivid, it was also pretty strange and unrealistic. Why in the world would you mutilate a wall for target practice? Even though James had been a pain recently with all his advances and flirting, he certainly wasn’t as evil as the one in your nightmare. You had known James for many years and he certainly wasn’t some physically abusive killer.

Also, Why did the idea that someone wants to kill him send shivers up your spine? You don’t care about him, you couldn’t care less if he lives or dies you thought to yourself, pushing the idea of caring about Keith out of your head. You couldn’t care for him, not after everything he’s done. 

It was just a dream, you reminded yourself, steading your breathing. It was horrible and disturbing, but it wasn’t real. Besides, you had a race today! Surely it would get your mind off of this whole nightmare thing.

You tiptoed around the hallway as quietly as you could. You didn’t want to wake anybody up, you were just looking for something to eat before your race. You went through the elevator and pressed floor after floor, trying to find some food. Finally you came upon a room that resembled a kitchen. You went to the fridge and scanned the shelves. Most of the items seemed to inedible, no way were you eating that chunky brown stuff. You found a container full of green goo that didn’t smell as revolting as the others. You were about to turn around and find a plate when you heard a voice.

“Why hello there y/n!” Coran said. You jumped in surprise and almost yelled at him, but you restrained yourself. You didn’t need to wake the whole castle up.

“Um, hi Coran” you mumbled, whispering. You held up the container. “Is this the food goo?”

“Yes it is number 4” he responded, getting two plates out from a cupboard.

“Number 4?” you asked him, raising an eyebrow, confused why he was calling you a number.

“I’m not so good with names so I’m keeping track of you 6 paladins by your heights” he explained, placing the two plates on the table. You sat down and poked the food goo with your fork. The goo wiggled like jello but when you picked up some with your spoon it slid effortlessly like pudding. It definitely wasn’t like any food you had on Earth, but you guessed you had to get used to it. 

“So I’m the fourth shortest?” you responded. 

“You’re the forth tallest because you are shorter than Keith but taller than Hunk” he replied, shoving the goo in his mouth. You stared at your goo questionably for a second before doing the same. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as horrible as you thought it would be. It was pretty tasteless, the goo was like liquid tofu. It felt slightly grainy, but the texture could have been worse. It was nothing compared to the garrison’s casserole surprise. 

“By the way, are you getting a late night snack?” Coran continued.

“I guess so” you lied, staring down at your plate. You didn’t want to tell him your plans. If you had told him, he would tell everyone else in the castle and they would be nosy about it. You glanced at your tablet. Then you piled the rest of the food goo in your mouth and washed your plate as quickly as you could. The clock read 6:56, you were going to be late. As you ran out the door and into the hallway, you could still hear Coran.

“Me and Alfor used to do that all the time when we were a weee smaller than you! The kitchen staff would always be grumpy for the rest of the day after we raided all the desserts for that nights dinner.”

You slouched in your chair and started to take deep breaths. Running all the way from the kitchen to the silver lions hangar was quite a workout. If only there was some sort of shortcut. You checked your tablet, it was 7:01. Once you had repositioned your hair and calmed yourself down, You decided to open a hailing frequency to the red lion to see if Keith was ready.

“Keith?” you called. Suddenly your communication window was shut down as you heard beeping sounds echo throughout the castle. It sounded like someone pulled the fire alarm at the garrison. You didn’t know what the noise meant at the moment, but you knew it was the sound of danger.

“Everybody up! Zarkons attacking!” Allura yelled through the intercom. “The castles about to be destroyed! Go, go, go! We need voltron now!”

You hesitated for a minute before you hit the gas to left the hangar. You would be all alone against the Galra with no support. You weren’t voltron. However, you didn’t see any of the other lions leave the castle on your dashboard, so you knew you had to do something. You couldn’t let them attack the castle. You had to provide the it some defense and buy the others some time before they came. 

You flew out at top speed, your heart running laps and your eyes sealed shut. When you opened your eyes and looked around, you saw no Galra. There were no evil, purple, furry creatures to be seen. You didn’t even see a single ship in the sky that could have accidentally set off the castles defenses. You then called the castle.

“Um, Allura, there are no Galra.”

“And that’s a good thing too” she responded irritation in her voice as she turned her head to face the others. You couldn’t see her face from your screen, but her hands were on her hips and you could tell she was glaring at Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk. Then she turned back to you and asked,

“Where’s your bayard and armor (y/n)?

“There was no time” you responded. You didn’t think you would need it for a race, but Allura didn’t need to know that.

“Where’s Keith?” she continued, still irritated. She seemed to be very angry or upset about something and you did not feel like putting up with that.

“Why am I supposed to know?” you responded, throwing your hands in the air exasperatedly and giving her the same attitude back. You weren’t his babysitter anyways.

“Right here” he piped up. You looked out your screen and he was right next to you. When did he get there?

“Good work you two” she responded. “Honestly I expected Shiro would be ready, not you guys. I need to have a little talk with them.”

When your transmission with Allura ended, you opened one with Keith.

“Where have you been?” you asked, taking the same angry tone that Allura had been using all morning.

“I came out of the castle right after you” he responded, a bit irritated. “You didn’t notice because you were busy talking to Allura. I was on my way earlier but when I heard Alluras warning I figured that I would need my armor and bayard.”

“So where are we going to race?” You asked him, dropping the angry tone. You figured that he had some challenge already planned.

“You see that mound of rocks over there?” He responded, sending you an image of the course. It had many huge mounds of dirt and tall jagged rocks, which led to a huge pile of rocks that rivaled the castles height. 

“Yep” you replied. 

“How about there and back? First one back to the castle wins” he responded smugly. You scoffed to yourself. As if he was going to win. That was so not going to happen.

“Ready to lose Kogane?” you taunted him as you tightened your ponytail and handles hard. You hovered your foot over the gas pedal.

“I don’t know. Are you (l/n)?” he taunted back.

“Three, two, one!” you both counted down in unison before you slammed the gas pedal and jerked your handle forward. Immediately you felt pushed back into your seat by the sheer force of your speed. You doged mound after mound, slightly decreasing your speed when you turned. 

As you were doing so, you felt your heart beat faster and faster to the point that it felt like your heart was going to burst out of your chest. You felt a smile creep to your scowling face and you felt a rush of happiness. Why were you enjoying this so much? 

You zigzaged through the sharp rocks and looked out your screen. Keith was ahead of you by a hair, but not for long. You increased your speed as you started heading back and weaved around the outside of the mounds and rocks. You checked your screen and you saw him right next to you. You were tied. You were about to increase your speed to the max when you were interrupted. Your smile left your face when you saw that the blue, yellow, black, and green lions were flying straight towards you.

“What are you guys doing?” Lance yelled angrily. “Are you competing without me Keith?”

“Well whatever the two of you are doing, you need to stop right now.” Allura scolded. “You need to work on forming voltron.” In response, you scowled and grit your teeth. You were having lots of fun and Allura decided to ruin it. Not to mention she still had her stuck up and bossy attitude. 

“All right guys, let’s fly in formation until we’re totally in sync.” Shiro instructed. As he said this, you turned your lion around and joined the formation. You The black lion was flying in the middle of the other lions in a v like pattern. You went behind the black lion and in between the green and blue lion.

”Feel the bond with your lion and the other paladins until five become one unit and you form voltron” Allura ordered.

You scoffed to yourself and rolled your eyes. What bond? You only knew these people for a couple days, there wasn’t one. Pidge, Hunk and Shiro seemed like they could be trustworthy, but you were still wary. As for Lance, he seemed ok but he was overly cocky and flirty. You didn’t exactly want to have a bond with someone like that. Keith on the other hand was another headache. 

Even though you felt you didn’t have a bond with the other paladins, you knew you had to try. Voltron wouldn’t work otherwise. 

You wondered if you acted excited and happy it would work. Apparently everyone else was also thinking the same thing. 

“Yeah!” everyone exclaimed confidently in unison. It didn’t work so you all did a loop and tried again.

“Yeah!” you all repeated again, still excited. It failed again and you were starting to get annoyed. How long was this going to take?

“Yay” you all said, not as excited or confident as the first time. It was pretty clear that everyone was bored by now. All this fake excitement was tiring you out. When you tried again, you got even more impatient and fusterated. No one said a word, except Hunk. 

“Wooo, Am I the only one that’s still pretending to act excited?” Not even Shiro wanted to continue this.

“Clearly this isn’t working” he pointed out. “Let’s set down for a bit.”

“Maybe we should be building voltron from the ground up” Keith suggested.

“What do you mean?” Shiro asked.

“Literally forming voltron like stacking on top of each other” Keith explained

“Like a cheerleader pyramid?” Lance teased.

“you got a better idea” Keith retorted angrily.

“It could work” reasoned Shiro. You however, didn’t think so. Last time you didn’t need to build voltron in order to form it. Even if it could work, it could take quite some time and wouldn’t be ideal for battle.

The blue and yellow lions crouched down on the ground right next to each other. Then you flew to the middle and sat your lion there. The green and red lions sat on either side of you and the black lion sat on top of yours. 

Suddenly you felt very unbalanced and unsteady. All four of the lions was too much weight for the blue and yellow lions and your lion started to fall head first. You hit the ground so fast you had no time to scream. Luckily your lion took the hit, not you. 

“Thank you” you wispered to her. In response she purred gently like the cat she was. You felt a wave of gratitude for you lion. If she didn’t take the hit you could have easily died.

You looked out your screen to see the other six lions sprawled on the ground around you. 

“Everyone alright?” Shiro called.

“No injuries here!” you responded. Everyone else responded likewise.

As you all got up, you got a transmission from Allura.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I might be able to help. Last Ike you weren’t able to form voltron until you were in the heat of battle. I need to run a test on the castle’s defenses. This should help.”

Then the castle’s particle barrier came up and it started to shoot blue laser beams in the air. They landed only inches away from you, vibrating the ground under your feet. You started to speed up as one also almost hit your tail. Before you knew it your seat was vibrating as your lion started galloping through the air. 

“Allura, what are you doing?” Keith asked Allura. She responded with a wide grin. “Running a test on the castles defenses, and inspiring you! Let fear be your guide!”

“This is crazy!” You remarked. Not only was Allura relentlessly bombarding you, but she was doing the same to the planet. If there was any life forms here they would certainly be traumatized. Not to mention she was all giddy and excited about doing this. The was definitely acting like a training maniac. You thought for a second about sticking her in a lion and putting her through this, but you decided against it. Flying your lion was a million times better and piloting anything else, and you wouldn’t be trading it for anything any time soon. Not even for Allura to get a taste of her own medicine. 

You saw Lance try to get back into the castle, only to be shocked by the particle barrier. You facepalmed, did he really think he was going to get in there?

“Real smart Lance” you taunted him saccastically. 

“You’re one to talk!” He responded accusingly. You tried to stop Keith all by yourself the other day!”

“Don’t you dare bring that up” you replied, venom in your voice.

“You guys can continue bickering later!” Hunk called. “Please have mercy Allura!”

“Do you think Zarkon will take mercy on you?” Allura responded threateningly. “He’s probably on his way now!”

Then the bullets seemed to lock onto you. You flew away from the team and stayed to zig zag. You turned to your previous race course and got an idea. It might be hazardous, but it could work. You flew at stop speed and went around the rocks, flying a bit closer to them this time. Fireballs filled your screen as the lasers hit the rocks instead of you. You did several loops through the rocks. As you headed back towards the castle from the huge rock pile, the particle barrier faded away and the shooting ceased. 

You were sitting on the black vynl couches in the lounge, right next to Pidge. You heard Hunk and Lance complain about something, but you eyelids started dropping and you were starting to rest your head on the couch. You didn’t get much sleep last night due to the nightmare. You shivered just at the thought of it. Suddenly, Allura burst into the room, still acting like a giddy maniac. 

“You did it! You formed voltron!” she yelled. This jolted you back awake and you stated glaring at her once more. You needed your sleep after that night you had and she decided to interrupt. She was really being a pain today.

“No, the particle barrier turned off and we flew in” Keith corrected her, clearly irritated as well. Then her expression turned sour like everybody else’s as she yelled   
“What!”

Then Shiro came in with his hands on his hips. He stared at all of you with a confused expression.

“What are you guys doing here? He scolded you. “We’re not taking a break!”

“Shiro’s right, you should be training!” she added on. Then she turned to the others. “Shiro, Keith, Lance, Hunk and Pidge, come with me to the training deck. (Y/n), you have 5 doboshes to change into your armor.”

“Doboshes?” you asked her. Were they some sort of time measurement? She rolled her eyes, returned your glare and continued.

“Just get there quickly”

You walked out of your room and down the hallway, towards a big door. You put your ear next to it and heard faint screams. This must be it. You walked in and Allura glanced at you. She began

“Good now you’re here we can start training”. As she said this 6 baseball sized orbs floated out of the floor and made a circle around the six of you. The six of you were standing in a circle with your backs towards each other. Everyone’s shield automatically popped up. Coran instructed,

“A swarm of drones is about to attack, no bayards allowed. You must protect your teammates, or else nobody would be there to protect you!”

The orbs shooting laser beams at you. You immediately put your shield up and stared to move it to block the now spinning attacks. You saw Hunk duck out of the corner of your eye, but then you head Pidge scream. When you looked next, she was gone. She must have been hit, but you hoped she was still ok. She seemed like a great teammate and you didn’t want anything to happen to her. Who would help you sass Lance if she wasn’t around?

You saw Hunk get shot down after Pidge had caught him off guard. Then you, Shiro, Keith, and Lance started to circle up. Your shoulders were firmly pressing against Shiro’s on your right and Lance’s on the left. The drones stated going faster and faster until you could only see a huge white ring around you. Then you felt a slight pain in your foot. Before you could register what happened, you fell through a black hole.

You didn’t fall for long though as it seemed to be more of a teleporter. You were in a small room with Hunk and Pidge. Only seconds later, Keith joined you and then Lance. Then you head a huge thud outside. Then you heard Shiro yell something that made your eyes widen in surprise. Did he just say the f-word? As soon as Shiro came into the room with you, the door opened and you were in the training deck once more. This time however, you walked in with Lance and Shiro. The three of you walked towards the center of the room and a holographic blue maze flashed for a second.

“To form voltron, you need to trust each other” Coran stated. “This ancient paladin maze should trach you that trust. Your partner can see the maze but you can’t.” You crossed your fingers, hoping your partner wasn’t Keith. “Now listen carefully. If you touch the maze, you’ll feel a slight shock!” Now you were even more nervous. If you were put with Keith, he would probably make you run into the maze on purpose. “Your microphone and headset is only connected to that of your partners so there is no confusion in directions.” You felt your tension go away as you heard Pidge’s voice through your helmet.

“Hey y/n, I’m going to be guiding you through.”

“Thank goodness!” You exclaimed. “I’m so glad I wasn’t stuck with Keith or Lance. 

“Yeah, they’re annoying” she agreed. “Especially Lance and his flirting”

“Eh, Keith is worse” you complained. You heard her mutter something under her breath in response, but you didn’t catch it.

“What was that Pidge?” you asked.

“Oh nothing” she responded. “Take six steps forward and take three right.” 

“What type of steps?” you replied. “Regular steps? Baby steps?”

“Good question. Regular 1 foot long distance steps” she responded. 

She continued guiding you through the maze without any shocks. You traded spots with her and there were no mistakes either. The both of you really did get along well. You kept making snide remarks with her about Lance and Keith. It may seem cheesy, but Coran was right! You felt like you trusted Pidge a bit more and you had realized that she’s pretty fun to talk to.

You were back in your lion with the rest of the group, hovering high in the air over a deserty patch of land. You were up in the air and you could only see sand dunes as far as the eye could see. 

“You won’t be able to form voltron unless you have a strong bond with your lion” Coran informed.

“No problem, me and blue are best buds for life!” Lance cheered. As for you, you weren’t quite sure. You felt like you had some level of mutual trust and understanding with your lion, especially when she saved you earlier. You didn’t have many ideas how to have a strong bond with your lion besides attempting to protect her.

“Perfect, then you won’t have any problems with this exercise” Coran responed. If you needed to have a strong bond like he said to complete this activity, this wouldn’t turn out well for you.

“Everyone, put your lions in a nose dive!” he exclaimed. “ This is an expert level drill and you shouldn’t really attempt it unless you’ve been flying for years, but here in a bit of a hurry. Activating training helmets!” As he said that last sentence, you lost your sight. All you could see was black. Your heart started racing once more, you didn’t know how to pilot blind!

“You must see through your lions eyes” Coran instructed you calmly. “Your goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground. Feel what the lion feels!“

“Mine feels scared!” Hunk responed. You didn’t know Hunk too well, but you knew he had already left. You turned your attention away from Hunk and focused on Keith. Maybe this exercise could finish your race from before.

“You still going Keith?“ you taunted.

“You know it” he responded seriously. You then turned your attention to Lance. Maybe if you beat him here it would shut up his cocky behavior for a bit.

“How about you Lance?“ you continued.

“Me? I’m speeding up!” Lance responded defiantly. You weren’t going to let him or Keith beat you here so you sped up as well.

“We must be getting close” Lance concluded.

“Must be. You scared y/n?” Keith teased you.

“No way!” You yelled boldly, increasing your speed to the max. Honestly you were a bit scared because you were hurtling towards the ground blind at top speed, but you weren’t going to reveal that to your rival. 

The next thing you knew, you had hit the sand head on.

“The most important part of paladin training is to be able to clear your mind to focus on one thing: voltron” Coran Lectured. You were back in the training deck with special headsets on. “Everything else has to fade away. This technique will be essential every time you form voltron. So relax and open your minds. No secrets between paladins.”

In response, you completely cleared your head. There was no way that you would let Keith inside your thoughts. You figured that if you focused on one thing strongly, then it would be harder for someone to read your mind. You did that and you focused on the first thing that popped in your mind: the garrison. 

 

Even though it was strange, you missed the garrison. You missed having a planned schedule and you missed not having to be in a small group with Keith 24/7. You missed talking to your favorite professors who were the closest things you had to friends in the last year or so. You missed having a sense of purpose as well. Not that you didn’t have one here fighting the Galra, but you couldn’t fulfill it here like you could there.   
It had been your home for three years, excluding the summer and holidays that you spent with your family. You missed them as well, but you were used to that feeling as the garrison was a boarding school and you only saw them occasionally. You were used to shutting down those waves of homesickness, but being even farther than them made that impossible now

“Clear everything and focus on voltron” Coran ordered. You started to think of your lion. You thought about how exillerating it was when you piloted her. You recalled her gleaming sliver armor, her bright yellow eyes, her massive claws, long tail, and her glowing teal features. You let your thoughts of your lion replace those of the Garrison and your family one by one until you had a solid, beautiful image of your lion in your mind.

“Pidge, stop thinking about your girlfriend” Keith remarked. You were too focused on your lion that you forgot about what was going on around you. You tapped back into the others thoughts. Even though it was tempting, you didn’t try to pry into anyone’s mind. You knew how much your privacy meant to you and it would give them a reason to invade yours. 

 

“You felt all the lions presence in your connection to the others, except the green lion. You then heard Pidge repond to Keith defensively.

“I wasn’t! Hunk was messing around in my mind!”

“I thought we were open!” Hunk responded annoyed. “You can look through my head hole!” You were starting to get annoyed with him, his messing around with Pidge messed up the activity.

“Well maybe she doesn’t like her privacy invaded” you responded sarcastically.

“Thanks yn” Pidge responded. 

“Clear your minds!” Coran commanded once more. “Now form voltron!”

You had slid the cockpit of your lion into its chest and stretched her limbs out. All the other lions folded into place for a second, but then the green lion got replaced by an image of Pidge with her brother. You felt a pang of sympathy for her. If it was distracting her this much, she must really miss him.

“Im done with this! I don’t like everyone looking around my head!” she complained loudly.

“Oh come on Pidge! We were starting to get the hang of this!” Shiro persuaded. 

“I’m just, I’m just tired ok?” Pidge responded distantly.   
“I second that!” You exclaimed. You were sleep deprived from earlier and you wanted a break. Plus, all this trying to work as a team was really tiring you out. 

“Ok, let’s take a break” Shiro agreed. You took off your headwear, and you saw Coran with some peculiar metallic objects in his hands as he was walking towards you. He handed them out to everyone. He said, “Well you have been working hard, maybe it’s time for a break”.  
With further inspection, you realized that the pouches looked eerily similar to those kool-aid and capri-sun pouches you always had when you were younger. You had a feeling they wouldn’t taste anything like fruit punch knowing these Alteans, but who knows? You inserted the straw and took a sip. It tasted chocolatey, like some sort of protein drink. You sipped it contently and felt some of your energy come back to you. Unfortunately, your least favorite Altean decided to interrupt your happiness once again. 

“What are you doing lying around?” she scolded menacingly. “You need to be training!”

“They’re resting a bit” Coran stated, backing you up. “You can’t push it that hard.”

“What do you mean can’t push it too hard?” Allura yelled. “Get up you lazy lumps, it’s time you face the gladiator!”

You were once again in the training area, but this time you had your bayard. It didn’t do much to calm your nerves though. You could dodge, meld your mind, and pilot decently, but you had no experience in combat. Your knees were shaking as you tried to keep a strong pose. 

“In order to beat the galdiator, 6 paladins must work as one” Coran instructed. Right after he said that, a tall white robotic figure came out of the ceiling and charged straight towards Hunk. In response he shot at it with his machine gun, but the robot doged all of them. The shots came towards you and you blocked them with your sheid. It swung its long staff at Hunk, causing him to fall over. 

 

It turned to spar with Pidge for a bit before it hit her in the head with its staff. Lance charged at it, gun blazing. It evaded the shots, knocked his bayard out of his hand, and he hit the ground. 

 

Then it came towards you. You tried to swipe at its neck, but it was moving too fast for you to leave a mark. It swiped its staff at your legs, and your face met the cold white floor. Then Keith and Shiro attacked it, but it ended up beating them as well. Allura turned off the drone and scolded everyone again.

“That level simulator was at a level fit for an Altean child. Your not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!”

You arrived at a table with plates of food goo. You all sat down as you listened to Coran once more. 

“Alright young paladins, I’ve prepared a big batch of focusing food. After this meal you’ll be able to form voltron six times a movement and twice on the astrial conflux!” You didn’t know what he was talking about as it looked like regular food goo, but you didn’t really care anyways. You were pretty hungry.

“Smells great Coran, thanks!” shiro said politely. As soon as you reached to your utensils, a pair of white disks slid onto your wrists and connected to Keith’s on your left and Pidge’s on your right. You looked around the table and noticed that you and all the other paladins were linked at the wrists by the handcuffs. 

“Hold the phone!” Lance exclaimed. Coran responded,

“I’ve seen a lot of solid individual preformances today, but your still struggling to work as a team. So welcome to the final bonding experience of the day! You have to feed each other!”

“Coran, think about what your doing” Hunk threatened.

“Yeah, putting me with Keith’s a big mistake!” You added on, giving Coran and Allura murderous glares. When they didn’t respond, you rolled your eyes nd started trying to feed Pidge some food goo. As you were doing so you got pulled Keith’s direction and the food goo got all over you instead of Pidges mouth.

“Keith! Seriously!” you almost growled, turning your glare towards him.

“You can blame Lance here for that” he responded, turning to glare at him.

“Classic Keith. Always taking the blame away from yourself and placing it on others” you yelled at him angrily. You were sick of his selfish behavior. 

 

“Oh yeah?” He responded, screaming. “You’re one to talk about placing blame, especially when your boyfriend..”

“Do earthlings ever stop complaining?” Allura interrupted him. In response, you turned your glare back to Allura. She was getting on your last nerve all day, but now she was really pushing it. How dare she complain about your complaining when she had been doing that all day!

“Can you just give us a break? Shiro responded as calmly as he could. “Everyone has been working really hard today.”

“Yeah Allura. How would you like it if you were forced to work with your sworn enemy several times, be put through relentless drills, and have to deal with your grumpy attitude all day?” You burst out at her, channeling out all of your pent up anger against her that had been building up all day. You got louder and louder with every word. “Not to mention when they are severely sleep deprived. No one likes to be compared to an, an..” you were so angry that you couldn’t continue your insult.

“An altean child!” Keith yelled, finishing your sentence. Your eyes widened in shock as you turned to face him. Could Keith actually be backing you up in an argument? No way! Even though it surprised you, you were greatful for his help. You were all facing a new enemy now and you needed all the support you could get. Unfortunately, you weren’t getting any from Coran.

“You do not yell at the princess!” he scolded you. Then Pidge responded sarcastically

“Oh the princess of what? She isn’t no princess of ours!”

In response, Allura flicked food goo at Pidge, square in the face. Then took a handful and landed some in the princesses hair. As you saw the irritation in her face, you smirked in satisfaction. Finally she got a taste of her own medicine. 

“(y/n)! Pidge! Go loose cheered Keith as he handed you his plate and you put it between you and Pidge. Again you were surprised by his gesture, but you were more concerned with getting back at the Alteans. Both of you grabbed one side of the plate as you threw the contents onto Allura and her pretty princess dress. A smirk crept up your face as you saw the mess you made on her dress. Who knew food fights could be this fun? Coran came after all of you with a ladle full of goo, sucessfully getting some on your face. 

“Oh it’s on now!” Hunk said snickering. He sucked his food goo into his mouth and spat it out at them. It was gross, but effective. Everyone immediately began throwing more and more goo and your smile grew wider and wider.

Second by second, you got covered with more food goo by the Alteans. In return, they were getting creamed by the force of six angry paladins. Even Shiro got involved, completely covering Corans hair and mustache so they looked green. 

 

You glanced at the other paladins and realized that their smiles and competive smirks mirrored your own. Even Keith was smiling and having fun. You glanced at the others and you all laughed happily at the goo covered Alteans.

 

“Enough!” Allura yelled. “Don’t you see what you’re doing?” Then she dropped the attitude and exclaimed, “Your finally working as a team!”

“She’s right, I don’t hate you so much right now!” Lance told Keith.

“Yeah same here” you added on. You felt like you just couldn’t hate Keith in that moment. Even though you knew you had a million reasons to, you couldn’t. Not after you had worked so well with him.   
“You guys thinking what I’m thinking” hunk asked.

“Let’s form voltron!” Shiro instructed. 

 

You were back in the lounge, you had just formed voltron outside. You had talked to the others for a bit but the adrenaline was starting to wear off. You were back in your room in your pajamas, trying to sleep. Even though you were tired, you couldn’t fall asleep. James’ face from your nightmare the previous night kept popping back up in your mind, jolting you awake. You couldn’t take it anymore and decided to take a walk around the castle to clear your head. When you went back to the lounge, Pidge was still there, staring at a photo sadly. 

“Hey Pidge” you called, taking a seat next to her.

“Oh, hey y/n. Why are you up?” she responded, putting the photo away.

“I can’t sleep” you confessed. “How about you?”

“Same reason” she responded sadly.

“So do you prefer to be called Katie or Pidge?” You asked her. 

“What!“ she yelled anxiously, eyes wide. “How do you know?”

“You called your lion kitty rose” you explained simply. “Besides, Sam Holt has a 15 year old daughter, not son. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone”

“Thanks (y/n)” she responded with a small smile on her face.

“Hey Pidge?” you asked her nervously.

“Yeah?” she responded.

“I’m not the best with connecting with other people, but if there’s anything I can do to help you feel better, let me know” you said gently. “I know how it feels to feel completely alone.”

“Well I miss them” she admitted sadly. Her voice got more determined as she continued. “I know they are out there somewhere. And I need to find them. And it sucks when others like the garrison don’t believe me”.

“Well your family is smart like you right?” You asked, trying to reason with her. “The Galra probably know that. They wouldn’t kill or discard smart people like them. Who knows, they could have escaped like Shiro”

“Why are you being nice to me?” Pidge asked turning to you. “You’re not like this around the others.”

“Well we’re a team now right?” you responded, giving Pidge a soft smile.

“Yeah, I guess so” she replied, returning the small soft smile. “And y/n?” 

“What is it?” you asked her.

“Your not too bad at connecting with other people, so stop putting yourself down.” As she said this, you were taken aback by it. You felt your heart melt as no one had told you that before. James always said you were antisocial and awkward, you never thought that he could have been lying. “You seem like a pretty great person, I don’t know why Keith hates you so much” She finished, happily smiling at you. She was just being too precious at the moment. You didn’t know how to respond, you were at loss for words. You thought for a minute and eventually stammered out,

“Thank you Pidge, that meant a lot to me.”

“Hey, no problem” she responded. “Goodnight (y/n)!”

“Goodnight Pidgey” you replied, going back towards your room. You had initially talked to Pidge to try and comfort her, you didn’t expect for her to do the same for you. Her kind words had erased James face in your mind. You smiled to yourself as you started to fall asleep. Did you just make a new friend after years of awkwardness and being antisocial? Could this be a new start for you?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, Jess here, sorry about the wait. Things came up last minute and I got sick. 
> 
> The schedule for updating has been moved from once every two weeks to once every three weeks. I hope you guys will understand as the chapters I’ve made recently are around 20 pages long and they require lots of time and effort. 
> 
> The relationship between you and Keith will be slow burn, you probably won’t get together until the end of season two  
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

You had just finished training with the others. After forming voltron three times, your lion could transform without you jumping out of your seat. When voltron flew some laps around the planet, The others got some practice with moving the arms and legs. You on the other hand just felt your heart sink lower and lower. You knew you were important to voltron, but you couldn’t punch through metal like Pidge and Keith. Even Lance could kick a ship with his lion. Granted, you still were still sore from the fall afterwards, but it could come in handy some day. You couldn’t say the same thing about yourself. 

Even though your heart felt heavy, you were glad that the others seemed happy. Lance’s Hunk’s and Shiro's faces were plastered with grins. Pidge had dark bags under her eyes, but she still wore a small smile on her face. Keith was, well.... Keith. He was still scowling as usual and crossing his arms. Maybe he was even more grumpy than usual, you couldn’t tell. 

“Great job training today guys!” Shiro began cheerfully. “We’re really getting the hang of forming voltron!”

“Seriously, how far do you think my lion kicked that broken alien ship?” Lance asked confidently. Seeing him like that brought a small simile to your face. Even though you never really talked it seemed like he was kinda depressed at the garrison. You plastered a fake smile on your face and and turned to him. 

”I don’t know how that’s helpful, but who knows? It might be someday” you added on, your voice as cheerful as you could force it. Keith however thought differently.

“Yeah if the Galra challenges us to a soccer match” he responded sarcastically. He had taken a tone so serious and mean that you felt like you should intervene. 

“Drop the attitude right now Keith” you responded coldly. You then turned to Shiro. “Shiro, aren’t we supposed to be working as a team?” Shiro was about to respond, but Keith cut him off. 

“You’re one to talk about teamwork y/n.” He responded, lowering his voice while continuing his fiery glare towards you. When your glare turned to match his and your (e/c) orbs locked onto his vlioently purple eyes, shiro spoke up. 

“All right, save your energy for fighting Zarkon” he scolded, turning his gaze to the both of you. He turned to Keith and continued. “(y/n) is right, you need to be working as a team.” Coran entered the dining room, carring a metal platter with a lid and bearing a cheerful grin. He turned his attention to the six of you and said, 

“Hello everyone, how was the voltron workout?”

“We’re getting there” Shiro responded calmly. You felt him glance at you with concern before he continued. “Are you and Allura almost done fixing the castle so we can leave this planet? I feel like sitting ducks on Arus.” When he said that last phrase, corans raised and eyebrow. Coran replied,

“Just about. In the meantime, to get your mind off those duck seats you’re worried about, I made you guys an authentic paladin lunch!” As he said that last line, he raised the lid to reveal some sort of monster. You gazed it suspiciously, it didn’t look anything like “authentic paladin food”. You couldn’t tell what is was. It looked like one of those cheap green stress balls with holes gone wrong. It had light green worm like appendages spewing from every hole. You winced and pinched your nose as the rotten fumes from it met your nose. The others didn’t seem too happy about it either. 

“Come on Coran, you just got me hooked on that goo, and now you’re switching it up!” Hunk complained. Even though you thought that Hunk could have been nicer about it, he had a point. The food goo wasn’t your favorite, but you could tell by the stench and appearance that it was nothing compared to the beast in front of you. 

“This is packed with nutrients!” Coran said defensively. You shook your head at it in response. There was no way it had nutritients. It might for some sort of fungi that lives off of dead decaying organisms, but not for you. 

“It smells disgusting!” Hunk remarked, shocking you. Hunk seemed to be holding back earlier, but now he was directly criticizing Corans dish, straightforward and to the point. You never thought that someone who seems like a human cinnamon roll would lack a filter. 

“I know, that’s how you know it’s healthy” Coran continued, still staying upbeat. You admired how positive and hopeful he was, but you had to break the truth to him. You didn’t him to get the false message that you were going to eat his “food”. That would be wrong, and you didn’t want to hurt the old mans feelings. You cleared your throat before you calmly replied to him. 

“Coran, I appreciate the effort you put into this, but no thanks.” As you said this, you saw his smile droop. This filled you with guilt, but you had to be honest with him. You knew team members had to be honest with each other. Your fake smile and cheery voice wasn’t so honest earlier, so you could at least be honest towards Coran.

 

“Also, we’re on a planet with fresh herbs and spices” Hunk added on, still keeping the same tone from earlier. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head back to the kitchen and spice things up.” After Hunk left, Shiro turned to Coran. 

“Where’s Pidge?” He asked. You then realized that Pidge wasn’t with you. You were too busy glaring at Keith earlier to notice. Now that you were thinking about her whereabouts, you recognized that you hadn’t seen her for quite some time. Coran answered Shiro, 

“He’s probably checking on those prisoners we rescued from Zarkon. They’ll all be waking soon in the infirmary.” After he said this, Shiro walked out the door. You considered joining him and Pidge, but you figured it was none of your business. You weren’t searching for your family members lost in space like Pidge. Plus, you were certain that you had no past with them like Shiro did either. You decided to stay with Keith, Coran, and Lance while Hunk was busy with the kitchen. 

 

You glanced at Keith for a second. Once again, it seemed like Keith was being his usual moody self. He was back to ingoring everyone. Not that you cared or anything, but his mood swings were confusing you. One minute he was teasing you about your bayard and the next he was saying that he couldn’t leave you in the med bay while smiling softly. Then you felt someone elbowing you in the arm, jolting you out of your thoughts.

“Like what you see?” Lance whispered, wiggling his eyebrows at Keith.

“Mullet? No way! Not in a million years!” you fired back as quietly as you could. You felt your blood boil at that suggestion.   
“Just joking y/n, I know you hate him. You just rolled your eyes in response. Of course Lance would try to mess with you. When you were about to go join Hunk in the kitchen, Lance elbowed you once more. You turned to face him and glared, but then he continued speaking with a softer tone. 

“Hey thanks for supporting me y/n.” You went silent for a second, you were not expecting that from snarky lover boy lance. After thinking up a reply, you responded kindly,

“Hey no problem, I try to have an open mind about things.” Right after you said this, you heard a sharp voice that drained your previous warmth. 

“What about me?” You turned to see the source: Keith. Even though it was pretty easy for you to be open minded about many things, you definitely weren’t about Keith. You knew him all too well at the garrison, and he hadn’t changed one bit from then. You had to admit that he had changed somewhat. You hadn’t seen him pull a blade on anyone recently, but he was still as rude as before. Now that you thought about it, he hasn’t been rude 100% of the time. He still helped you get up when you were in that cave. He also wasnt rude when you were fighting the Galra. Maybe he was just rude 90% of the time. You couldn’t tell your rival that though. 

“I have no reason to believe that you’ve changed” you said as coldly as you could while staring down at the table. Right after you said this, Hunk came out of the kitchen with some bowls and a simile on his face. Immediately Keith grabbed a bowl and ran towards the door. He slammed it on his way out so loud that you dropped your spoon. 

 

After he did this, you felt a sudden rush of guilt and your face fell. Was his current behavior your fault? Did your response really make him that upset? you had the urge to go and apologize for your actions, but you shut it down. He shouldn’t expect you to believe he has changed after all he has done. He should earn your trust before you admit that you lied. Besides, you couldn’t appear weak around your rival. 

You decided that you weren’t going to let Keith’s childish behavior ruin your mood. Hunk had just cooked for you after all. Hunk had never made food for you before, so you weren’t so sure how it would taste. Nevertheless, you skewered the wobbly green tube and placed it in your mouth. It couldn’t be any wore than what Coran tried to feed you.   
Your eyes widened as it hit your taste buds. This was amazing! Especially since it just appeared to be a sickly green tube. It tasted like some sort of pasta. It was smooth like pudding. It was so creamy that you almost felt it melt in your mouth. Before you knew it, your smile was back on your face and all your noodles were gone. When you saw Allura approach everyone, you crossed your fingers. Hopefully she wasn’t in grumpy training mode. Thankfully, she wasn’t. She exclaimed,

“They like the paladin lunch!” this only earned an irritated sigh from Coran.   
“I don’t want to talk about it” he wined, crossing his arms. You sadly sighed in response. You tried to be polite to Coran, but he was still upset. Now you had two people angry at you.   
Despite Coran’s attitude, Allura remained positive and switched the topic. “I got the final nebulon booster working, we should be able to leave the planet tomorrow!”  
Your sadness was quickly replaced with dread when you heard the mechanical warning beeps from the castle. A holographic screen popped up on the wall, showing just outside the main entrance. It zoomed in on a creature hiding behind a rock. You couldn’t see much since it was quite a distance away and he was hiding. All you could tell was that it was multicolored and only about three feet tall at the max.

“What is that?” Lance asked no one in particular. He sounded scared and defensive, which was unlike the confident aura he usually had. 

“It seems to be some sort of native species” you answered. Honestly you had no idea, you just assumed that it was one. Because of how cautious and timid it was behaving, you guessed that it wouldn’t be the type to journey to another planet. 

“Perhaps it’s a local arusian?” Allura added on. She seemed as unsure as you. Then you saw it run to the next nearest rock while holding a blade that was about the size of his head. Before you could get a closer look at him, he hid his head once more.

When you looked at the corner of the screen you saw a wisp of black hair. Your eyes widened and you felt a much bigger sense of dread than before. You remembered all too well what an angry Keith was like. You weren’t going to stand by and let his anger hurt another person.   
“Oh no you don’t Keith!” You yelled as you ran out of the room and pulled out your bayard from the thigh plate on your leg. This could get dangerous. 

After storming outside, you scolded Keith. 

“What do you think your doing?” He replied aggressively,

“I’m not taking any chances! Besides, he could be dangerous!” He then got right in between you and the creature. “Drop your weapon!”

“No one takes Klizap’s weapon!” The arusian responded, trying to mimic Keith’s aggressive tone. He sounded more like some sort of angry gremlin than Keith though. In response, Keith drew out his bayard and got even closer to the arusian. Oh no, Keith was going to attack.

In response, you did the only thing you could think of. You drew out your bayard and ran towards Keith. You got in between him and the arusian and blocked him from Keith with your sword. You pressed down on it as hard as you could, but Keith pushed back with the same force. He pushed back even harder to the point that you could no longer block his sword with yours. You were too weak. You found yourself standing, weaponless, between Keith and the arusian. Keith walked closer to you until his sword was only one foot away from you. He tried to move around you to get the the arusian, but you kept blocking him. 

“Keith put that away!” You yelled at him as loudly as you could. This wasn’t one of your usual scoldings, you used all the energy you could muster. You weren’t holding anything back this time.

You saw Keith’s violet eyes become saucers and his jaw dropped. Never in your life had you seen him this shocked. He didn’t say anything in response, he just silently put the sword back in his armor. You looked around to see that Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and the Alteans were there as well. Everyone was dead silent for a moment, you looked over to the others to see their shocked expressions. Finally, Allura broke the silence.   
“Please kind sir, accept my most humble apologies” she said gently towards the arusian. In response, he put his blade away and replied in a calm voice,

“I am Klizap, bravest of our warriors. Our village is over gazers hill. I come seeking answers as to why the lion goddess is angry with her followers. 

“Followers?” Lance asked him curiously. 

“Lion goddess?” Hunk added on, raising an eyebrow. 

“The one the ancients spoke of” Klizap explained, pointing to a stone mural. The “lion goddess” looked like a regular person with a lion head and a fancy robe. You hadn’t seen anything like it on the planet though, so you wondered if it was a serverly altered version of something you had seen here. 

“What makes you think she’s angered?” Allura asked gently. 

“Destruction is everywhere” he explained solemnly, making grand hand jesters. “In the past few sons, fire has rained from the heavens and a giant has danced in the sky.”

“I think he’s talking about voltron” Hunk whispered. You were thinking the same thing, hopefully there wasn’t any other giant in the sky besides voltron. The little arusian however didn’t know about voltron. You glanced back at him and you still saw the terror in his eyes. You understood why he was afraid, voltron was quite intimidating. If you didn’t know a thing about it, you would be as scared as well. You knew all to well what fear was like, and you didn’t want the poor little arusian to continue feeling it. 

“It’s understandable that you would be worried, but that’s not exactly the case” you told the arusian gently, trying to ease his fears.

“You haven’t angered the lion goddess” Allura added on with the same tone.

“How can you be certain?” he asked, still with worry in his voice. 

“Because I am princess Allura, and this is my castle!” Allura declared regally. When she said it like that, she really did sound like a princess. She wasn’t yelling, but there was confidence in her voice. Her confidence was pretty admirable, especially since the people and the planet she used to be a princess of was gone.

“Lion goddess!” The arusian said reverently, Bowing before her. 

“Please, bravest warrior, take us to your village so that we may meet our neighbors!” Allura said, continuing her regal tone. 

“What about our mission to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?” Keith asked her. He seemed quite annoyed that allura wasn’t focusing on your mission. You had to admit that Keith had a point, but you currently couldn’t get off the planet, even if you wanted to.

“Well we can’t leave today anyways” you reminded Keith, giving him the same attitude he gave Allura. “Allura said earlier that the castle will be ready tomorrow, not today.”

“Thanks (y/n)” Allura told you with a simile. “Besides, it’s part of the paladins mission to spread peace. Arus has been our host for 10,000 years. These people deserve our thanks.”

After you and Allura left your lion, you met up with Lance, Coran, Hunk, and Keith and headed to the village. It was spotted with little dome shaped cottages and rectangular tents outside. The place seemed very earthy and natural, with rocks, twigs, and wildflowers adorning the houses. Almost everything was a shade of green, white, gray, or brown.

Now that you were around so many arusians, you could tell that they all looked pretty similar. They were all around the same hight and stature. They all had horns on the top of their heads which were a shade of brown. They also all had a light creamy color to them, some of them were more on the light yellow side and some were more light pink than others. Besides their skin and horn colors, the only other differences were their clothing. There were lots of simple dresses and tunics that were a variety of pastel and natural colors. They also had a vest over their dress or tunic.

As you walked through the village, you saw many different expressions on the arusian’s faces. Some seemed scared or worried like Klizap was earlier. Others had hopefull smiles plastered over their faces. There were even a couple that appeared to be emotionless, with serious expressions on their faces.   
Once you got to the middle of the village, a large group of arusians approached Allura. It was led by a much different arusian. Just by his larger size, more decorative horns, orinate tunic and vest, and crown, you could tell he was far more powerful than the others. He began solemnly,

 

“Lion goddess, I king of the arusians formally beg for your forgiveness. Please have mercy on us and accept our traditional dance of apology as atonement for our wrongdoings.” Then he clapped his hands and a single female Arusian walked in front of Allura. She had both her arms going in their opposite directions and she was holding a serious expression. “Commence dance of apology! Hoorah!”

After he said this, he bowed and all the arusians cheered. They started to play their drums, and the arusian started to dance. She made many gestures with her arms and she swayed back and forth. She danced, fowards, backwards, left, and right. As she was in the middle of a spin, Allura spoke up.

“Please, there’s no need for that” she said calmly. However, the arusian king seemed even more worried now. 

“Halt!” He commanded the dancer, having her stop mid twirl. “the goddess has refused our apology. Start the sacrificial fire!” You had finally had enough. the dance wasn’t necessary but this was just way too far. You weren’t going to let their worry cause them to die. It seemed like he was about to continue commanding, but you still interrupted him. 

“No don’t do that!” You said in a frantic voice. “You did nothing wrong!“

“No sacrifices!” Allura added on. 

“So we may continue with the dance?” He asked with hope in his voice.

“That would be a better alternative” you said confidently. 

She continued her twirling, gestures and swaying to the music. It almost seemed like she was trying to tell a story with her movements. When she finished, she bowed, all the arusians bowing with her.

“Please, please rise!” Allura commanded regally. “Thank you for that, but I’m not a great being worrying of your worishp. I accidentally put you in danger, it is I who should be apologizing to you.” You were glad that her attitude had changed. Yesterday she was calling you children, but now she was acting humble and apologetic. She gestured to you and the other paladins and continued. “These are the voltron paladins. Although we came from different worlds, and have very, very, very different traditions, we wish to live alongside you as our friends.”

“But the mighty robotic angel, hasn’t it come to destroy us because of our immoral ways?” the arusian king asked. He still seemed worried. You gently smiled and replied,

“The mighty robotic angel you speak of is voltron, and it has come to protect you.” Allura added on enthusiastically,

“Let it be known that voltron will protect every innocent being throughout the universe!”

After Allura said this, all the arusians ran towards the six of you and hugged your legs. When you saw the smiles on their faces, you smiled even wider. You were very glad that they weren’t so timid and scared anymore. You were still worried about a certain arusian though. After you went through many rounds of leg-squishing hugging by the arusians, a group of arusians approached you. The men wore the same diagonal chest strap for their blade holster and trousers as Klizap did as before. The females also had the trousers and strap, but they had vests as well under the strap. One of them approached you and said happily,

“We, the arusian warriors, would like to thank you for defending our brave leader Klizap earlier. He told us what had happened, and we are very greatful for what you had done. You’re a brave warrior, just like us!”

“Um, your welcome I guess. You said awkwardly, scratching the back of your head. “You got it all wrong though, I’m not a brave warrior.” You guessed that you were the “brave” part, but you weren’t strong enough to be considered a “warrior”.

“What do you mean?” Klizap asked, confused. “You fought the paladin with a sword who was going to attack me and blocked me from him, didn’t you?”

“Yes? you answered raising an eyebrow.

“Then you are a brave warrior!” Klizap exclamed. Then, the group of brave warriors gave you a literal hug attack. You had several on your legs, and some had even jumped up to hug your stomach. You felt like you were going to fall over with all this added weight. “Heh, I guess your right.” You said to them with a small smile. You couldn’t stay gloomy around these bundles of joy. After a couple of minutes, they left to go to the others. All except for Kilzap. Even though he was all smiling and encouraging just a couple of seconds ago, his smile was starting to leave his face. This filled you with worry, you knew it had something to do with Keith.

“Hey, Klizap?” You said with concern while approaching him. “Are you sure your feel okay after what happened earlier?”

“I guess I am. Arusian warriors must always feel ok!” He said, struggling to keep a smile in his face. Then his smile dropped and he pointed to Keith. “Has that red one always been like that?”

“Unfortunately, yes” you said sadly. You knew deep down that you wished that he was different. You loved competing and bickering with him, but you hated that part of him that always had to stir up trouble. You hated how he would act overly defensive to the point of attacking the other. Just like he was with James in that hallway.   
As the silver paladin, you had to have a good concience and you had to do the right thing, and you were able to do that pretty well. This was except for when it came to Keith. He’s that one exception that makes you defensive, cold and rude. He’s the one that you don’t listen to your conscience around. If he was different, you would probably be a far better silver paladin. 

 

You had hoped that he had changed, now that he left the garrison and now that he was back with Shiro. You sadly sighed to yourself. Some things might never change.

“Have I done something to upset you paladin?” Kliazap said with concern, shaking you out of your thoughts. 

“No no, you didn’t” you said, shaking your head. You were about to continue when you head a huge rush of wind. You turned your head to see a large black flaming object hurtling through the planet’s atmosphere. 

After you rounded up the arusians and made sure they were safe, You were back in your lion. You weren’t that happy to be in there though. You were so tense that your breath was speeding up, but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was finding Pidge and Shiro so you could take care of this “thing” that just fell from the sky.

You didn’t know what it was exactly, but it sure was causing a lot of racket. As you approached the area, you saw something that made your jaw drop.

It was a huge purple and silver beast. As it charged towards the green and black lions, it behaved like a chaotic monster, destroying everything in its path. However, with the amount of equipment and and armor on it it seemed more robotic. Whatever it was, it was dangerous and it was coming straight towards Pidge and Shiro.

“Lay down some covering fire so they can get out of there!” Keith instructed you and Lance. The idea of listening to him made you want to gag, but you had no choice if you were to help Pidge and Shiro. You pushed your handles forward and you started to shoot huge laser beams at the beasts back. The area around the beast was engulfed in black plumes of smoke as it got hit. 

“Battle lion headbutt!” Hunk exclaimed as he rammed his lion into the back of the monster, causing it to topple over. You weren’t expecting that to work, but your main focus was on Pidge and Shiro.   
“Are you guys ok down there?” You called to them worriedly.

“Still alive for now” Shiro responded. He sounded as tense as you, which made sense. None of you had fought a beast that the Galra sent straight to you. You hadn’t fought some sort of robot monster hybrid that seemed programmed to take you out.

“Are the Galra behind this?” Lance asked.

“They must be” you responded, trying to gather your thoughts. “No one else would send a purple beast after us to take us out.” You figured Shiro would know more about them because he was their prisoner though. “Have you seen anything like this Shiro?”

“No, there technology must have advanced a ton since I was their prisoner.” Shiro explained in a serous tone.   
“It doesn’t seem to be all technology..” you began to say, but Lance interrupted you. 

“We don’t need to know about the beast (y/n).” he said rudely. “So what’s the plan? Shoot at it with all we’ve got? Take out its weapon, call it names?”

“There’s only one way to take this monster down, form voltron!” Shiro commanded. After a bit of concentration, the option appeared on your screen and voltron started to take shape.

Your cockpit slid down, making room for the black lion. your felt your balance shift as the legs of your lion contorted to form the skeleton of voltron, which the other four slid on. You felt a pulse of energy run through your body, giving you a boost of energy. 

You were now facing the beast head on. 

“Remember, we are one unit fighting with one goal” Shiro reminded all of you. No matter how angry you were with Keith, you both had the same goal. You had to take this beast down. 

 

The beast started spinning a machine that made up its right hand, spawning an electrical purple orb. As the six of you as voltron charged towards it, it raised its arm, and thew it at you. You spun around and doged it. Then, Keith yelled as he slammed the hand of his lion right at the machine on the beast. This impact caused a wave of dust to fly. Pidge did the same, causing it to stumble and back away. Then, everyone yelled as voltron jumped right on top of the monster’s arm. 

When you seemed to have the upper hand, the monster had one more trick up it’s sleeve. You felt a large hit as your seat shook, that must have been that orb. As you tried to get up and away, it relentlessly continued pounding you with the orb. With each attack, you felt your Lion began to grow weaker and weaker.

“I thought voltron was the most powerful weapon in the universe!” Keith exclaimed, clearly as irritated as you were. 

“Yeah so how is this thing kicking out butts?” Lance added on, angry as well. 

When you noticed a new window on your screen pop up, the monster shoved you with its shoulder. You felt a wave of pain rush through you as Voltron hit the ground. As you opened your eyes again, you realized to your horror how close you were to the arusian’s village. 

“Oh no! The village! We’ve got to protect those people!” You said with worry. 

“(y/n)s right, we need to lure the monster away. As you were about to turn away from the village, you got hit in the back again. You winced in pain as you felt more of your energy drain away, but you had to ignore that for now. Shiro turned voltron away from the village and you flew past the beast.

“We’ve got him away from the arusians, but we can’t take him down” you concluded. Then, you took a closer look at your new screen. It showed the total power level of voltron, and it was also displaying how much of that power was in each lion. 

“I’ve got it, I’m going to power kick that orb thing!” Lance exclaimed. 

“No, last time you kicked we fell!” Keith yelled back at Lance. You had to agree with Keith, it would be too risky with your current power levels. Voltron was at 80%, and you needed all that power to defeat the monster.

“Oh come on, stop living in the past” Lance replied angrily. “You support me (y/n) don’t you?“

“Right now might not be the best time for a power kick Lance!” you advised with your current power levels in mind. This beast was doing some serious damage. 

Despite what you said, Lance tried to kick the orb. You felt yet another wave of pain as Voltron fell down to the ground. That kick took out another 10%. Thanks a lot Lance. 

 

Once you got up again Shiro commanded,

“Pidge! Fire lasers now!”

“Got it!” She responded, only to accidentally activate the shield instead. “Oops!” 

“No, lazers!” Shiro said desperately, but it was too late. The monster cane up towards you, punched you, and hit you with the orb. Your total power level was now at 60% At this point you were starting to feel exhausted. 

“Everytime we focus on the orb, were hit by the monster, but every time we focus on the monster were hit by the orb!” Hunk complained.

“Then what do we do?” Pidge asked. 

“Orb!” Lance warned as the orb was on its way back towards you. You tried to move out of the way with your controls, but it was no use. Voltron wouldn’t budge. 

“Shiro, we gotta move!” Keith warned Shiro nervously. 

“Shiro! Are you there Shiro!” Pidge added on with the same tone. Finally, he responded. 

“That sound, I recognize this monster from my time as the Galra’s prisoner, I know how to beat him!” As his voice got even more hopeful, Voltron jumped out of the way of the orb. He continued, “Listen, there’s a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of the weapon, and every third time it needs to recharge. That’s the monsters weakest point. That’s when we need to strike!” 

“Okay, so what do we do in the meantime?” Lance asked. You noticed that his voice was more hopeful now, Shiro’s hope was clearly contagious. If he knew how to beat this thing, you would beat it. Shiro’s the greatest pilot you had ever met and you knew that he would get you guys out of this battle alive. 

“Defense, Pidge, we need that sheid!” Shiro commanded. Pidge raised the shield, which the orb it. You felt a slight push backwards. On your screen, a new window popped up displaying the energy the shield had left which was at 40%. Voltron’s total power was now at 50%.

“That’s one, two more to go!” Shiro informed. The orb hit the shield again, causing your warning lights to pop up. Voltrons total power level was at 40%, and the green lion who was responsible for the sheid was only at 20%. Meanwhile, your lion was at 30%.

“We can’t take muck longer!” You exclaimed, analyzing your power levels. You lowered the power levels on your lion to supply the others with more power, leaving you at only 10%. You felt almost all of your energy leave you as you struggled to keep your eyes open. You were now running on pure adrenaline.

“Last shot, everybody brace yourself!” Shiro instructed as the orb destroyed the sheid. “Now!” You transferred some of the energy from the green lion to the red lion, then Keith shot at it with his lion. 

“It didn’t work!” Pidge exclaimed as the monster got up again.

“So now what?” Lance asked defeatedly.

“When I attacked it before, I had a sword” Shiro stated. You didn’t think you could find an object to use as a makeshift sword though. 

“Orb, orb!” Hunk warned. After that hit you felt your lion’s power level drop to 7% and your warning lights were flashing even brighter now. 

“We can’t take another shot like that!” You exclaimed, feeling the hopelessness of the situation.

“Wait guys, I think my lions talking me what to do!” Keith said hopefully. And sure enough, a new window popped up on your screen, displaying a sword.

“Well, whatever it is hurry up and do it, he’s about to take his last shot!” Shiro exclaimed.

The monster hit you with the orb once more and now you were on the ground, with no energy to get back up. As the beast was about to jump on top of you, you saw a blinding flash of light and your lion suddenly felt a wave of energy fill it.

Everything was still for a second, then the monster exploded.

“Yeah! We did it!” Lance cheered.

Then, you realized that the red lion was now holding a gleaming blue sword.

“How did you do that?” Shiro asked Keith. Keith didn’t respond to Shiro, he just spoke kind of nicely towards his lion.

“Huh, thanks red.” 

You had just sent off the prisoners that you had freed from the Galra the other day. Well, Pidge, Coran, Hunk, Lance, Shiro, Allura and Keith did. You on the other hand were taking a nap. The six of you fought the same battle, but for some reason you ended up far more tired than the others. Maybe it was because you hadn’t been getting much sleep recently, maybe it wasn’t. 

 

After you woke up from your nap, you decided to head down to the training deck. You just couldn’t get your mind off of the incident with Keith and Klizap. You held your own against Keith for a bit, but you still weren’t strong enough to beat him in a duel. That had to change so you could start defending others from him. Knowing Keith and his aggressive nature you knew you would most likely have to defend something else in the future aganst him. Maybe even yourself.

“Start training level one” you commanded. Right after you said this, the gladiator started to charge towards you. You activated your bayard and swung it at its chest, channeling all your anger and frustration towards Keith and yourself into your attack. The gladiator blocked your sword with its staff, and pushed your own bayard towards you. You felt your arms grow weaker and weaker. Then the gladiator swung its sword at your side, causing you to topple over. 

“End training sequence!” you commanded panting. The gladiator faded away and you heard the training rooms door click open. 

 

“You ok (y/n)?” you heard something say with concern. Your eyes widened in shock, you could recognize that voice from anywhere. 

“Keith!” you said with surprise, getting up off the floor like nothing ever happened. “What are you doing here?”

“I came here to train. He stated plainly. He had a sly smile on his face while he continued in well, a very different tone that you never expected to hear from him. It was the type of tone lance would use.

 

“Speaking of training, it was nice sparring with you today. We should do it again sometime.” As he said this, your eyes widened even more. 

“Wait. you-ou just acted like you were going to attack the arusian so you could spar with me?” you said stuttering. Why on earth would Keith do all that to spar with you? It made no sense.

“Let’s make a deal” he said with a mischievous glint in his eye. “I’ll tell you why if you spar with me.” You shook your head in response. There was no way that you would fight him now, especially after that disaster of a training session. You didn’t want to make a utter fool of yourself in front of your rival.

“Not today Keith” you responded plainly, crossing your arms. 

“Why? Are you scared of loosing to me?” He taunted, his sly smile growing into a smirk. “I could go easy on you if you want.”

“It’s none of your business.” You fired back angrily. You would never admit that you were scared of loosing to him.

“Fine then I guess you will never know why I attacked that arusian.” He ansered back coolingly, putting his hand on his hip. You thought for a minute about your options. One one hand, your curiosity might just keep you up all night for quite some time. On the other hand you had to spar with Keith. The more you thought of that option, the more you realized it might not be so bad. If the match gets postponed you might have enough time to get your skill level up to his. It would be quite satisfiying to beat him after all.   
“Wait, I’ll spar with you.” You said lowly. “Just not today.”

“Ok then, that gives me some time to prepare”he responded contently. He took a deep breath before he continued. “Anyways, you were right earlier. One of the reasons I did it was so I could spar with you. I know how much you like to defend the innocent and all that. I figured if I tried to attack an arusian, you would defend it and I would get to spar with you.”

Your jaw dropped after he said this. What he did was manipulative and sneaky. Why would he put in all that effort and make such a scheme just so he could spar with you. Why would he want to compete with you that badly? Does he hate you that much? Then you realized that he said that it was only one of the reasons. What were the others?

“One of the reasons?” you asked him, quirking your eyebrow. 

“Your not getting all the reasons until you spar with me again” he replied teasingly. You just shook you head and left the room. That sly emo, of course he wouldn’t tell you all the reasons now.

When you exited, you saw Shiro approach you with a concerned expression. Your annoyance towards Keith quickly turned to curiosity. Why did Shiro look so worried?

“Oh, hey y/n. can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked you nervously.

“Um sure, but not here.” you responded, awkwardly, leading Shiro to the lounge area. “What do you you want to talk about?”

“Well Allura told me what happened today with Keith and the arusian” Shiro stated. His tone got more worried as he continued. “She told me how he attempted to attack it and you stepped in to defend it. I realize that I’ve been away from Keith for quite some time. You on the other hand seem to have quite a history with him. Did he ever do something like this when I was gone?”

“Do you really want to know?” you responded sadly, your heart sinking. You really didn’t want to talk about it ever again. Just thinking about it brought tears to your eyes at times.

“Yes, please y/n, I’m like his older brother” he said pleadingly. “I was appointed as his guardian when he was at the garrison, I’m held somewhat responsible for his actions.

 

“Fine” you responded coldly, now staring at the floor. “Do you remember when Keith punched James?” you started slowly, trying to make him figure it out for himself. 

“How could I forget that” shiro responded gravely.

“Well let’s just say things... escalated since then. there was an ... incident” you said stammering. At this point, you were hugging yourself, your blood chilling at just the thought of it.

“What type?” Shiro asked with curiosity. 

“I don’t want to talk about it” you said, gritting your teeth in anger. You thought Shiro of all people would know about not wanting to talk about traumatic experiences. Shiro sensed your anger and responded back in a gentler tone. 

 

“Look (y/n), I know more about traumatic incidents more than you may think. I saw countless prisoners die at the hands of the Galra in the most.. gruesome of ways. I completely understand why you wouldn’t want to talk about it, but I really need to know. How about we make a deal?” That made your eyebrow perk up. Why would Shiro want to make a deal with you?

“What type of deal?” you responded, continuing your defensive tone.

“You tell me what happened, I’ll teach you how to fight.” Shiro explained. After thinking about it for a minute, you decided to tell him. You really needed the lessons from Shiro if you were to beat Keith later. Plus, you needed to know how to defend yourself and others from the Galra. Even though it would hurt to talk about it, it couldn’t hurt as much as that first time in that courtroom. You took a deep breath before you spoke. You tried your best to steady yourself as much as you could you could as you said,

 

“I was talking with James one day when Keith came behind and pulled a knife on him. He had his blade to James neck. Happy now?” Shiros pupils constricted in surprise as you said this. Then he replied with a lower tone.

“(Y,n), if I’m going to confront Keith about this I’m going to need the full story.” You swollowed hard before you continued. 

“I asked him what you would think and he said that your gone and placed his blade harder” you began. A lump stated forming in your throat and your eyes stared to water as you recalled the events of that fateful day.

“James said it was because of Keith and then I started walking away. All I heard was James blood curdling screaams as I ran away.” At this point, you couldn’t control your emotions anymore. You felt your body tremble as you continued. “I heard James body fall and keith caught up to me. He grabbed my shoulder and pushed me to the ground. When I woke up, I was in the office. When I saw James next, he had little cuts and bruises all over his neck.” Then, out of nowhere, you felt a pair of warm, srong arms wrap around you.

“He did that?” Shiro asked quietly, still in a state of shock.

“Y-yes” you responded between sniffles.  
“Did he ever apologize for what he did to you?” Shiro asked gently.

“No” you responded angrily. You felt a new hatred for Keith rise up in your chest as you realized that he never once apologized for the worst thing he did to you.

“Well, I’m going to” Shiro began sincerely. “I’m sorry he did that to you. Then, his voice got even sadder. “I’m sorry I left Keith. I’m so so sorry. If I didn’t, then that would have never happened. It’s all my fault”. At this point, Shiro was sniffling as well. You hugged him back as he continued. “I thought I was doing the right thing by going on that mission to Kerberos. I can see know that the damage has been done that I was wrong.”

“Shiro, I forgive you” you replied kindly. “No one, even you could have predicted that Keith would do such a thing. He caught me off guard, I never thought he would do something like that.” Everything was silent for a bit, you just sat there hugging him. It seemed kinda strange, but Shiro was as emotional and upset as you were. He needed to be comforted as well.

“Speaking of Keith, you should apologize to him as well” you added on, remembering how broken Keith appeared to be when Shiro left. 

“Why are you saying this? Don’t you hate him?” He asked, starting to calm down. 

“I might hate him, but I’m not heartless. You explained. “We may not see eye to eye, but he was very hurt when you left. I bet he still is. Plus, I don’t want to deal with a moody Keith.” You heard Shiro chuckle softly as you said that. You saw a smile creep back to his face. 

 

“Thanks Shiro” you responded sincerely. “Now I believe there is someone you need to confront and apologize to” you continued, reminding him about Keith.   
“Hey anytime (y/n)” he responded calmly. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I feel much better now” you reassured him, wiping your tears away. “Good luck with Keith.”

“Thanks (y/n)” Shiro responded as went towards the door. 

Then you froze as you heard footsteps and a crash by the door. Who was there? And how much of your conversation did they hear?


	10. Weak and helpless

You bolted out of the lounge, hoping to catch whoever had been eavesdropping on you. It better not be Lance. Knowing him and his hatred for Keith, he would confront Keith about it in front of everyone. Then the whole castle would be up in your business about it. You didn’t want any of that to happen, drama was the last thing you needed now. 

“Paladins, report to the ballroom” Alluras voice boomed through the intercom, distracting you from your search. You wondered why Allura would be calling you to the ballroom of all places. You better not have to do any dancing with anyone. You didn’t even know where this “ballroom” was. You remembered seeing a huge open room when you first came to the castle, perhaps that was it. 

As you turned corner after corner searching for the ballroom, you heard a huge rumble of noise. It sounded like it was right below you, so you took the elevator downward. 

Sure enough, you were in the “ballroom”. It was full of arusians, they must have been the source of all that noise from before. However, they seemed much quieter now, they seemed to be watching something. You turned to face the direction that they were facing and you saw a peculiar sight. Three arusians were standing on top of each other and they were facing a stack of six arusians bearing a sword. 

“It was an epic battle, but Voltron was victorious!” the arusian king cheered. In response, the six arusians fell down and the room thundered with their cheers. You had a small smile on your face, these arusians had cute antics. They reminded you of little toddlers. 

“No I said voltron was victorious!” The King said again, a bit more irritated this time. In response, the six arusians with the sword got back up, and the tower of three fell down. You chuckled softly in response, they really were just like toddlers. After another deafening cheer, Allura cleated her throat and spoke up.

“Thank you your magesty for that wonderful production” she said in a cheery tone, before turning to face the crowd of arusians. “It saddens me that we must leave tomorrow, but we must continue our battle with Zarkon and spread peace throughout the universe.” Then she turned back to the king and gave him a small gray oval. “Please accept this gift. this will allow you to contact us anytime you need help. Arus will be the first planet In the voltron alliance!” Then the king raised the device with all to see and they all cheered once more. 

You scanned the room around you, still a bit tense because you hadn’t found your eavesdropper yet. You felt some of your tension release as you spotted Shiro at the edge of the room. Maybe he could help you find them. You were about to tell him about the evesdropper, but then you saw his troubled expression. You didn’t want him to feel worse, so you decided to not mention it to him. 

When Shiro turned to face you, you saw him plaster on a small smile, which was obviously fake. You were going to ask if he was ok, but he was obviously not.

“I think it’s best I talk to him after this party” shiro said with a troubled voice.

“Good idea, I wouldn’t want Lance or any of the others to get involved” you responded gently, trying to calm him down somewhat. So that’s what he’s worried about. It was a pretty reasonable worry, confrontation is never easy. You were going to continue talking, but you just didn’t feel like it anymore.  
You wanted to help him feel better, especially because of all he had done for you earlier. However, you just couldn’t. You had no clue what to say to make him feel better. You were no good at comforting someone like Shiro. As you stood by Shiro, the both of you silent, the helplessness of your situation started in sink in. You felt your heart sink and your eyelids droop seems your eyes started to water.

You weren’t good enough to help him. You were pathetic, you couldn’t comfort those who comforted you. 

Then, you got an idea. You may not be able to comfort him, but you might be able to distract him from his worries by changing the subject. It was worth a try. Now, what would you talk to him about exactly? You scanned the room around you for ideas. Allura was standing by a balcony, and Hunk, Keith, and Lance seemed to be talking about something. Everyone seemed to be there, except for Pidge. Now that you were thinking about it, you hadn’t seen Pidge since your battle with the robotic beast. You cleared your throat and turned away from the floor, now facing Shiro once more.

“By the way, have you seen Pidge recently?” you asked shiro with a casual tone.

“I talked to him right before I talked to you. I haven’t seen him since.” He replied. You sensed worry in his tone. Just great, now he was feeling even worse. Nice job (y/n). 

“Sounds like you have been pretty busy comforting people then” you responded, struggling to continue your casual tone as your helplessness was creeping back. 

“Well you seem like you have been pretty busy as well” Shiro responded. You felt your helplessness slowly fade away as his tone became less worried. You smiled to yourself, you could distract him from his worries after all. 

“Not really, I’ve only trained once and hung out with Pidge” you responded, shrugging. 

“And you raced with Keith” shiro replied with a smug expression. Your jaw dropped in response. Were you really that obvious? 

“How did you find out?” You asked him with a slightly accusing tone. You had taken every precaution to keep that from the others, the only way he could have known is if he was evesdropping while you and Keith planned it. 

“Because I’ve raced with him before” Shiro responded calmly. “He flys much differently when he’s racing opposed to flying for school. I noticed that his maneuvers were almost the same ones that he has used against me, so he must have been racing you. So...”  
“Hey (y/n)! Could you show Keith how the team cheer is done?” Lance yelled, agitated.   
“I’ll talk to you later then” you told Shiro with a small smile. You were glad that he seemed less worried. Then, you rolled your eyes and headed towards Lance. 

“Uh, what cheer?” you asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“The cheer goes like this” he continued with an excited tone. “I say vol, you say tron! Vol!”

“Tron?”you responded, still confused. You weren’t that familiar with team cheers. 

“Ehh, needs more enthusiasm, we’ll work on it” Lance responded, frowning. You rolled your eyes at him in response. Having a team cheer wasn’t that big of a deal anyways.

You turned to Keith, he seemed pretty annoyed with the blue paladin as well. You caught him glaring at lance as he was spitting out his drink. 

“Well it seems like you too are agreeing on something for once” Hunk said with a smug tone. You whipped your head around in his direction, he was a table away, sampling some food. How long had he been there? Was he watching the two of you this whole time?

“Oh don’t mind me, I’m just getting some food” Hunk replied calmly. You just narrowed your eyes at him in response. Why was he getting involved in you and Keith’s business? Was anyone else watching you as well? You turned to look behind you and sure enough, Allura was watching you as well. When you started staring back towards her, she caught on and turned away. You just shook your head in response, Allura would just continue watching you when you had your back turned. You climbed up the staircase that led to Allura’s balcony, the metal on your armor clicking on the metal of the staircase.

“Oh hey (y/n)”Allura said with a cheery voice. 

“Hey Allura, so what happened to grumpy training princess?” you asked her, your voice smug.

“Sorry about that the other day, I was going through some ... things. I wasn’t really mad at you, I was mad at Zarkon” Allura responed with a surprisingly guilty tone. 

“Yeah I wouldn’t blame you, you have gone through quite a bit because of him” you reasoned. 

 

“Well I bet you of all people would know about being mad at someone” Allura responded with the same tone Hunk was using earlier. 

“What do you mean?“ you responded as your heart rate started to speed up. Hopefully she wasn’t talking about Keith, you were starting to get irritated by the number of people talking about the two of you. 

“Aren’t you and Keith constantly bickering and glaring?” Allura responed with a smirk on her face. It was as if she knew something that you didn’t, and you found that very unsettling. 

“Well yeah I guess” you responded, trying to stay calm. 

“Why is that? Even the mice can’t figure it out.” Allura responded curiously. You sighed to yourself, you have had enough with other people getting their noses into you and Keiths business. Especially when they are curious about why you hate him. You trusted Shiro enough to tell him about the incident, but you couldn’t really say the same about the others. Even if you did trust them enough, it hurt too much to tell them about it. 

“It’s complicated” you responded, crossing your arms. Then, you spotted Pidge in the crowd. You honestly didn’t want to continue this conversation with Allura any longer, and now you had a good reason for doing so. You hadn’t had the chance to talk to Pidge recently.

 

“Excuse me for a bit” you responded politely with a fake smile. You raced down the stairs towards Pidge, who was filling her backpack with food.

“Hi Pidge” you said with a small smile. 

“Hey (y/n), can we talk?” Pidge said timidly. 

“Um sure” you responded, shrugging as she led you out of the room gently by the wrist. Once you were out of there, you turned several corners until you couldn’t hear the noise of the party anymore. She took a deep breath before she began with a sad tone.   
“I heard what you and Shiro were talking about a bit ago in the lounge. I didn’t mean to evesdrop, I was just looking for Shiro”. 

“Oh you did” you responded, your heart sinking once more. You were slightly relieved that she was the evesdopper and not Lance, but you didn’t want to talk about it. 

“I won’t tell the others about it, it isn’t their business” she added on with a soft tone. “I just need to talk about it with you, if that’s ok. You don’t need to say anything if you don’t feel like it.” You gave Pidge a small nod in reply, grateful for her understanding.

“I understand why you hate Keith so much now. What Keith did to you, there’s no words for it really” she continued, clenching a fist. “I couldn’t imagine someone doing what Keith did to James to someone I care about”. 

“Well cared anyway” you responded with an icy tone. “I stopped being friends with James after that.”

“But I saw you guys talking the other day!” Pidge responded, quirking an eyebrow. Oh crap, you really did talk with James, even though you swore to yourself you wouldn’t after the incident. That bastard, talking about Keith to get you to have a conversation with him. You messed up. 

“Let’s not talk about it” you responded, too embarrassed to admit you broke your promise. Then, you turned back to face her and realized she was frowning. “Hey, are you ok Pidge? You seem distressed, what is it?” you asked her gently.

“I’m going to leave team voltron” she responded quickly, her voice breaking. Your eyebrows raised in response.

“Are you serious?” you asked her, your frown now matching hers. She nodded in response, leaving you at loss for words. 

“I-I don’t know what to say” you began with a cold tone. “It sounds wrong honestly, you are needed here with voltron to defend the universe!” Then, your voice became gentler as you realized you were just making things worse. “But that is your decision, it would be wrong to force you to stay. Could you at least tell me why?”

“I found information on my familys whereabouts. I need to find them” she explained. 

“Well, good luck then” you responded with a small smile. You really did wish her the best of luck, even though the thought of her leaving saddened you. The green paladin had started to grow on you recently, as you started to see a bit of yourself in her. 

“Thanks (y/n)” she responded sincerely. “Good luck with Keith.”

“I’m going to need that” you replied, chuckling softly. “So when are you going to tell the others?”

“In a bit” she responded. You felt a slight sense of deja vu as you realized you had been in the exact same situation with Shiro earlier. Both Shiro and Pidge were nervous about talking to someone else about a serious topic. However, in Pidge's case, you felt more comfortable coming to support her when she did so. Shiro could handle Keith on his own but Pidge, not so much. 

“Well when you do, I’ll come with you to support you.” You responded. 

“Thanks (y/n), I’m going to need it” she responded kindly. Then, the both of you walked back in the main room. As soon as you did so, Allura appoarched Pidge. “I can handle the princess by myself though.” You nodded in response. Besides, all these conversations were tiring you out, you needed a breather. You hadn’t tried the food yet anyways. 

You sampled what looked much like popsicles from Earth. They didn’t taste like any fruit from earth, but they were still pretty sweet. They didn’t seem to melt on you like popsicles on Earth though. They were probably magical, just like everything else in the castle. You saw some purple juice as well, but you decided not to risk it. If Lance had spit it out earlier, you probably wouldn’t like it either.

All the while, you kept an eye on Allura and Pidge You saw her expression go from curious to confused and dumbfounded to desperate and distressed. 

Then you saw her round up Hunk, Shiro, And Keith. You followed them out the door and into the hallway. Once everyone went out, Pidge took a deep breath.

“I’m leaving team voltron” she admitted as her eyes were glued to the floor. Even though you heard it already, those words still hurt like a punch in the stomach. One of the only people that you trusted was going to leave you. She was one of your only allies against Keith. 

“Pidge, no!” Shiro gasped. You saw disappointment etched in his face. 

“The download from the Galra ship was enough to at least point me in the right direction for my family” she continued, trying to reason with the others. “I have a pod all ready to go.”

You wondered to yourself if that wasn’t the only reason she was leaving. Could she possibly be leaving because of you? 

“You can’t leave!” Keith yelled, interrupting your thoughts. He started to glare at her. In response Pidge met his glare with her own. She snarled back,

“You can’t tell me what to do!” You smiled to yourself. Good job Pidge! You were really going to miss her comebacks. 

“If you leave, we can’t form voltron!” Keith stated, as if he was talking to a baby. “That means that we can’t defend the universe from Zarkon!” You gave a frustrated sigh. Keith was right, but he didn’t understand that it’s not his choice to make.

“Keith, its not your choice!” you scolded, getting in between him and Pidge. 

“Why are you defending her?” He asked accusingly, raising his voice while focusing his glare on you. You glared back at him. “She’s putting the universe at risk for the lives of two people! Aren’t you the silver paladin? Don’t you have to make things fair above all else?” Your blood was boiling. You have had enough. Who was Keith to tell you what to do? He had no right, especially because of his past crimes. You were going to tell him exactly how you felt about him in that moment, but Shiro spoke up instead. 

“That’s enough Keith!” He yelled, his eyes almost slit like. Then he glanced at you and his eyes widened in concern. “Stop being so rude to (y/n)”. He shook his head, facepalmed, and continued in a disappointed tone. “This isn’t how a team works. People can’t be forced to be a part of it.” He then glanced towards Pidge. “If you want to leave, we won’t stop you. But please, just think about with you’re doing.”

Everyone was quiet for a second, then Pidge gave her verdict.

“I’m sorry. You’re going to have to find someone else to pilot the green lion” she said, sending a punch to your stomach. She really was leaving, even after every one had talked to her about it. The more you thought about it though, the more you realized it would feel the same if she was forced to stay. She wouldn’t be herself anymore, she would be angry and distressed. You certainly didn’t want that for her and it would hurt to see her that way. You may not be able to form voltron anyways as teamwork is essential for it. 

Then, the castle shook, a boom echoed through the hallway, and the lights went out, leaving you in the dark. 

After the smoke cleared, your eyes darted to the floor. Blue crystal shards were scattered on the floor, illuminated by your armor. Then, to your horror, you saw Lance’s body lying on the ground. He had dirt marks and scratches on his face. Immediately you placed your gloved over his heart. You felt a faint beating, and your body trembled in horror. You fell silent for a second. Could Lance really be dying? His antics were annoying, but he’s a good guy overall. He was always trying to liven things up and make others laugh. Plus, he’s a rival of Keith, just like you. 

“Lance!” Allura screamed. 

“He’s barely breathing!” You exclaimed. Shiro picked up Lance and slung him over his shoulder.

“We have to take lance to the infinmary!” Pidge added on. 

“It won’t work” Allura admitted with a low voice. “Without the crystal, the castle has no power.”

“He doesn’t look good” Hunk stated. You had the sudden urge to glare at Hunk. It was obvious that he didn’t look good. He was just rubbing it in. Then, you realized what you were doing. Hunk was as worried as everyone else. You could even see the lines in his face.   
To make matters worse, the arusian king rushed in the the room and shouted “Lion warriors! Our village is under attack! We need help!”

“Let’s get to the lions!” Keith snarled. You narrowed your eyes in response. Keith wasn’t the leader, so he shouldn’t be acting like one. 

“You can’t, their sealed in their hangars there’s no way to get them out!” Allura cried desperately. “We’re defensiveness!” 

You turned your glance back towards Lance. What were you going to do about him? You didn’t think the alteans had oxygen tanks, they seemed too advanced for that. And even then, you had no clue to use any of their equipment anyways. They may not even be operational. 

“Will you not help us?” The arusian king asked anxiously, interrupting your thoughts. 

“We will help you, just...” Shiro began, his voice even more troubled than before. 

Then you heard lance groan. He must be dealing with lots of pain at the moment. How did he get this way anyways? The same thing that happened to the crystal must have happened to him. You shuddered, thinking about what Lance must be going through. 

“This is bad!” Hunk remarked. It really was bad. Lance was seriously injured, the Arusians needed help, and the castle was down. 

Hunk, Coran, and Pidge said something about a pod, a crystal and a balmera, and then they left. You weren’t really paying attention to their conversation. How could you be when a team member could be dying?

Keith said something about the arusian village and so did Allura. They both left, leaving you with Shiro and Lance. 

“Do you think he’s going to be alright?” You asked with a timid voice as you and Shiro walked through the dimly lit castle. You shivered, dark areas always managed to unsettle you. 

“I hope so. He will be when the others bring the crystal back.” Shiro responded, still anxious. 

“You sure you don’t need any help with Lance?” You continued, raising an eyebrow. You wanted to help Shiro any way you could. 

“I got him, but thanks for offering.” Shiro stated, turning to you with a small smile. 

“Maybe we could still go to the infirmary then” you reasoned. “They may not have the pods available, but they probably have sort of medicine” 

“Good idea (y/n), but we also need to check the main entrance” he said, taking a serious tone. “That explosion was no accident.” Your heart started to beat faster as Lance’s breathing became even more ragged. 

“Hang on buddy, help is on the way” Shiro said, trying to comfort him. As you neared the entrance, Shiro pushed you backwards gently against the cold castle wall without warning. 

“Shiro, what is it?” you stammered taken aback by his actions. You peered outside and you froze. The same Galra from before, the one that came to Arus, was at your front door. He had the same purple ears, prosthetic eye, and scary stature. You turned away from him and got back inside the castle almost on instinct. Your breath started to pick up. 

“(y/n), if anything happens, take care of Lance!” Shiro warned seriously, setting Lance down besides you. He ran outside, towards Sendak Trembling, you drew out your bayard, casting a sliver glow over you and Lance. You also drew out your shield, making the glow now a wispy teal. You had a feeling you would need it. 

“Sendak!” You heard Shiro yell. 

“Stand back” Sendak barked. His voice sent shivers down your spine.

“No you’re not getting in” shiro warned gravely. You had never heard this side of Shiro before. You never really realized how dangerous Shiro could be considered. You heard a low, mechanical humming. 

“Yes, I am” sendak continued. You heard clanking of metal on metal. You heard Shiro’s yelping. You had the urge to help him, but you knew you had to stay here with Lance. Then, you heard a loud clank and a rush of cool night air came your way. You saw flashes of purple dance on the castle walls. They got brighter and brighter by the second. 

Then, you heard a pair of heavy footsteps, and they too grew louder and louder. You got more tense with every footstep, knowing that whatever it was, it was coming straight towards you. 

 

A Galra came around the corner. His purple, almost magenta glowing armor changing the room to a now deep blue hue. He didn’t look as distinguished or scary as Sendak, but he still wore the same scowl. He seemed pretty muscular as well. He was carrying a gun as well, which matched with black and purple outfit. You felt your muscles tense up as he approached, this wasn’t going to end well.

“I don’t even think I’ll need my gun with you” he snarled, causing you to sneer back at him. “You didn’t help your leader with Sendak, pathetic. I guess you paladins don’t care for each other as much as we thought.”

How dare he! Of course you care about Shiro! Shiro's kind, understanding, a great leader, and one of the only people here that you trusted, of course you care about him!   
You charged at him, swiping your sword at his chest. He jumped away, then raised his fist to punch you in the face. In response, you brought your shield up to block your face. 

Then, you felt a hot, searing pain in your leg as he kicked you in the shin, causing you to topple over. Then, you realized that lance was vulnerable and he wasn’t protected. 

 

You ran over to Lance-well you limped, your leg was still stinging. You got right by Lance and you crouched down behind your shield so you could protect the both of you. 

The next thing you knew, you were hit on your exposed hip, causing you to topple over in pain, onto the cold floor, to the opposite side of Lance.

Then, you saw Shiro and Sendak start to bring the fight inside. Shiro swiped-wait is that his hand? It was purple and glowing, it seemed to be the same material as your bayard. Wow he was even more powerful than you thought before. Shiro's hand was at Sendak's throat as Sendak had his prosthetic hand near Shiro's.   
“Let him go, or your friends won’t make it” the Galra from earlier threatened, pointing a gun at Lance and one at you. 

All of a sudden, you felt another wave of deja vu as your life was threatened once more. All of your emotions from the incident came crashing back towards you. Your chest started screaming in pain as your breathing became quick and ragged. Your mind raced with a million throughts, about your family, your friends, and your deepest regrets. How would the others deal with your death?

You were interrupted from your thoughts by a loud bang. You looked over to see Shiro, knocked out cold on the floor beside you. You were suddenly filled with rage at the Galra. How dare they! They hurt Shiro!

You got up, ignoring your sore leg and hip. Ignoring the Galra from before that still had a gun pointed your way. You were sick and tired of others making you fear for your life. If they were going to take you down, you didn’t want to go down in fear. You raised your bayard, and sliced the tip of the galras gun off. To your surprise, his smirk just grew wider. 

 

You felt a hot, searing pain on your wrists and arms as they were thrust behind your back. You felt two pieces of cold metal wrap around your wrists, squeezing them tightly. You tried to move your hands to use your bayard but the cuffs just squeezed even harder, causing your bayard to clatter to the floor. It was like Keiths grip, times 5.

You felt a sharp pain in your back , almost knocking you over. 

“Walk!” Sendak commanded you. You snarled back in defiance, you weren’t going to let him get the best of you. Besides, you were still fuming at them.

 

“And what if I don’t?” You spat, spitting on his shoe. You really didn’t feel like listening to them. Seeing Sendak annoyed at you was pretty satisfiying. You were able to get under the skin of these seemingly invincible monsters. You smirked. Is this how it feels to disobey? 

Your smirk left your face when Sendak brought out his arm and fired it up. He had it pointed at Shiro.

“Walk! Or else your leader gets it!” Sendak jeered once again. You rolled your eyes in response. As much as you wanted to annoy the Galra, it wasn’t worth Shiro’s life. 

You walked forward, scowling, following Sendak and the other Galra as they dragged Lance and Shiro. They might have got you to listen this time, but you vowed to take your revenge on them. No one makes you scared for your life, hurts Shiro and gets away with it.

“Voltron is ours!” Sendak declared as you and the others entered the control room. 

You rolled your eyes yet again. They couldn’t steal voltron, the lions were sealed in their bays. There was no way no get them out without a new power source. 

You felt your heart sink when the galra brought in a purple crystal. They attached it to the stub of the orginal crystal with black wires. The control room was filled with a purple glow. 

Now they were able to deliver voltron to Zarkon.

You felt a surge of helplessness well up inside of you. The Galra were taking voltron, and you as well, and there was nothing you could do about it. 

This situation seemed to be all your fault. If you were strong enough to fight off the Galra earlier, none of this would be happening! You couldn’t defend the castle, and you certainly couldn’t defend Shiro and Lance. 

“I’m sorry Shiro” you mumbled, glancing at his limp body on the floor next to you. A tear slid down your face. “I can’t defend you, the castle or Lance ”. You scoffed at yourself. You bet Keith, your rival would probably be able to do all three of those things though. Even though it hurt to admit, you knew that Keith was so much stronger than you’ll ever be. He would probably be the one to come back in the castle, defeat the Galra, and get all the respect for it. The others would probably forget about your attempts to help. 

“Haxus!, take the prisoner outside!” Sendak commanded, scowling at you. 

“Yes commander!” The other Galra responded before leading you towards the hallway. If he didn’t want you in the same room as him, you must be still annoying him. He placed a second set of cuffs around your thighs, making it impossible for you to move. He punched you in the shoulder sending a dull pain up your neck and down your arm. You fell over onto the floor, the pain starting to spread to the rest of your body. 

You felt your body grow limp as you lay there on your stomach on the cold hard floor. You felt of wave of fatigue wash over you. You have been very busy recently. You have had many emotionally draining conversations and events in the last several hours. Plus, it had been quite a while since you slept last. Maybe it would be best if you took a short nap, there was nothing you could do about the current situation anyways. You might feel a bit better afterwards. 

“Aaaah!” You heard Shiro scream, jolting you back awake. You then heard a cackle of electricity, followed by another blood curdling scream. You felt your eyes start to water and your body started to shake. You couldn’t take this anymore! You were sick of standing by while others got hurt. It would be better if you got hurt and not them. 

“No Stop!” You yelled

“Why should I?” Sendak snarled back. You thought for a second. Why would Sendak stop, and why would he hurt you instead? You thought about all of Sendak's past actions. He used you caring about others against you. He threatened the vulnerable, so that the rest of you would give in. Then, you realized that you were as vulnerable as Shiro, maybe even more so because Shiro was tougher than you. 

“Because I’m weaker than him.” You stated. 

“Y/n, no!” You heard Shiro and Pidge scream in unison. You wondered why you were hearing Pidge’s voice.   
You felt your whole body scream in pain as Sendak grabbed you by his arm and threw you inside the room, causing you to fall back on the floor hard once more. He raised his arm at you, and you squeezed your eyes shut. If you were going down, at least you were going down defending others. 

A surge of electricity purple hit your stomach. You could barely function, you couldn’t think, you couldn’t breathe, you couldn’t see. All you could do was scream. It felt like a hundred tiny daggers were being shot at every inch of your body. You felt fire course through your veins, then sharp glass prickling your skin. All the while, you trembled and squirmed.   
You felt the pain reach your head, which also started pounding. The ponding intensified so much that you felt your body go limp once more. 

You opened your eyes to see a blue glow full the castle once more. What was happening? Didn’t the Galra take over the ship?

 

“No Keith, I got (y/n)” you heard shiro say firmly. Then, you felt a dull pain fill your body, causing you to wince and groan as you were lifted off your feet. You felt a warm, strong arm under your knees and around your back. You opens your eyes once more to see Shiro looking at you in concern. You turned your head to see a what was going on, but that caused your head started throbbing. 

“Relax, y/n” shiro said gently. you felt the pain slowly fade away as shiro continued walking, you in his arms.

You opened your eyes to see a plane of teal glass in front of you. You didn’t know where you were, but you felt cozy and warm. It was like you were surrounded by pillows and blankets on all sides. 

Then, the green glass faded away, causing you to topple over. Thankfully, someone was there to catch you.

“Thanks Allura” you mumbled into her shoulder.   
“Your welcome (y/n). You should probably also thank shiro, he’s the one that brought you here” she responded kindly. You looked at yourself in the glass of the healing pod. What the heck were you wearing?

“Um, Allura, what am I wearing, and how did it get on me? You asked her. The grey suit seemed skin tight, you definitely didn’t want to wear it around the castle.

“Oh, that is the healing pod suit” she informed you with a big smile. “Your clothes are over there”. She pointed to a pile of neatly folded clothes in the corner. “As for your other question, I got you into your suit.”

“Oh, thanks” you responded with a small smile. Before Allura left the room, she said, continuing her cheery tone,   
“When you are done getting changed, meet us in the control room. I’m sure you have a lot of questions”


	11. Chapter 11

When you walked back in the control room, you where met with wide smiles from Pidge, Allura, Coran, and Hunk. Shiro had a small smile as well, but his forehead was still creased with worry. You raised an eyebrow at him. Was he still worried about confronting Keith or was something else on his mind?

 

“Hey, um thanks to taking me to the infirmary Shiro. You said quietly, a small smile on your face. 

“It’s the least I could do since you let yourself get tortured instead of me.” He responded gently. 

 

“How are you feeling y/n?” Allura asked in the same tone, causing you to turn your head her way. It was nice to know that she and the other paladins cared about you. Well, not everybody, a certain red paladin wasn’t there. You sighed in annoyance, but you didn’t expect him to care anyways. Then, a puzzled expression appeared on everyone’s faces. Did they think you were mad at them? 

“I’m not mad at you guys” you responded in a gentle tone, smiling once more. “I’m feeling much better, thank you.” Those healing pods truly were magical, It was as if you were never shocked by Sendak. All the pain was gone! 

Then you felt a wave of worry wash over you as all your emotions from before were coming back. You remembered how helpless you felt when Lance was dying. You remembered how awful it felt when you feared for Lance’s life. Your heart hurt as you recalled that Pidge was going to leave team voltron. The healing pods were great, but they could never heal you of these pains. 

“Wait, where’s Lance?” You exclaimed in a worried tone.   
“Oh, he’s in a healing pod” Coran replied causaly. You felt the wight lift from your shoulders and you sighed in relief. You were glad that Lance was okay. Then you turned to Pidge so that you could deal with your other worry.

“So Pidge, are you still leaving?” you asked, your heart heavy with the possibility of her still leaving. You hoped that she would change her mind, but in the end it’s still her decision to make. 

“No, I can’t leave you guys, you are like a family to me” Pidge responded firmly, causing you to perk up and smile wide. “We need to stop Zarkon for all our families!“

“That’s great Pidge, I’m glad to have you back” you responded in a cheerful voice. You were overjoyed because of that news, but you were still wondering how Sendak got defeated. 

“So Pidge, what happened With the Galra?” you asked her, raising an eyebrow. “I was there when Sendak took control of the castle, but I don’t know the rest.”

“Well when Keith and Allura went outside, the Galra put up a particle barrier around the castle, preventing them from getting in” She explained. “I happened to still be in the castle. I went down to the main power room with Allura and with the mice’s help, we shut down the particle barrier and the boosters they would need to leave. Then we attacked Sendak. Hunk and Coran put a new crystal into the ship.”

“Wow!” you responded, amazed. “I missed out quite a bit.”  
“Yeah, you missed seeing me fight Haxus and Sendak!” she replied, pride in her voice. She was two years younger than you, and yet she was stronger than you. You felt a bit ashamed as you realized that, but you were happy for her anyways.

“Nice Pidge!” you congratulated her. Then, your voice became lower as you continued. “You actually helped a lot, unlike me.”

“Don’t beat yourself up y/n!” she scolded you, literally shaking you out of your trance by the shoulders. Her voice became kinder and she stopped shaking you. “We wouldn’t have been able to take down Sendak if it wasn’t for you taking the hit for Shiro. Besides, didn’t you protect Lance?”

“Yea, I guess so.” you responded sheepishly, still ashamed. Sure, you did help, but they would be able to take down Sendak even if Shiro was down. They had Keith, who was a pretty fierce fighter. They also had Allura, who was some type of god like warrior princess. The two of them plus Pidge should have been enough to take Sendak down. 

Pidge left to talk to Shiro. As you were scanning the room, you realized that you hadn’t seen Keith for quite some time. Not that you wanted to be around him or anything. Keith might be planning something right now, since he isn’t around everyone else. Planning something that he doesn’t want the rest of you to find out about. Planning something rotten. He may not be planning rotten, but you didn’t want to take that chance. You cleared your throat.

 

“Have any of you seen Keith?” you asked loudly, alerting everyone in the room? 

“Why do you ask?” Hunk responded, confused. “Why would you care, your his rival?” You rolled your eyes and sighed. Even though them asking about it annoyed you as you wanted to get to Keith as fast as you could, they should probably know what you were up to. You trusted everyone else in the room enough to tell you, and they should know if something happens to you in the process. 

“Well he could be up to something right know, who knows” you explained in a serious tone.   
“In that case, it has been several hours.” Pidge responded calmly. “The last time I saw him actually was a bit after you were in the healing pod.”

“I’m going to go look for him then” you responded quickly before running out the door. 

Your heart was pounding as you turned corner after corner, searching for Keith. You were a bit nervous because you had no idea what Keith could be up to since Keith was pretty unpredictable. You shrugged it off though, you had enough experience with him to deal with it. 

What could Keith be up to anyways? You figured it would have to do with either you or Lance. You and Lance were always the ones annoying him, so it made sense.   
You peered into the training deck, but he was no where to be found. Where else could he be? In his room perhaps? You walked through the training room and went through the door that linked to everyone’s rooms.   
As you were walking through the hallway lined with everyone’s rooms, you felt a light tap on your shoulder. This caused you to jump and quickly turn around. That came out of nowhere! 

“Ah! What the heck Keith!” you yelled at him, backing up a bit. 

“What are you doing?“ he asked you in a slightly smug yet slightly accusing and angry tone. You glared at him and crossed your arms. You wanted to tell him it wasn’t his business, but your conscious prevented you. It would be wrong to tell him that. It actually is his business this time since you were looking for him. Besides, he might be more reluctant to tell you what he was up to if you answer him. 

“Well, I was looking for you” you stated sheepishly. 

“Why? Have you decided that you want to spar yet?” he asked, clearly interested in what you had to say. You were taken aback by this and you became confused. Since when did Keith care about what you say? 

“Not yet Keith” you responded rolling your eyes. You wanted to train with Shiro before you did so, which you haven’t been been able to yet. 

“Remember, I said I could go easy on you if you want” Keith responded teasingly. You huffed in response. Why was he always so cocky? 

“Just let me know when you’re ready” Keith responded calmly. You narrowed your eyes in response. Why did he have to be so confusing? One moment he’s angry and the next he’s calm. 

“Well if you weren’t looking for me because of that, then why?” he responded raising an eyebrow. You took a deep breath before you responded. 

“I just wanted to see what you were up to. You weren’t with the rest of us.” You responded causally. 

“I wasn’t doing much, just thinking and resting.” Keith responded. You were taken aback once more, usually he would just get moody and tell you it was none of your business. You couldnt believe it, he was actually answering your questions for once! He was acting extremely strange today. Did something happen while you were unconscious after you were tortured by Sendak? You immediately shrugged it off, if it was big enough to made Keith act strange, then the others would have surely told you about it. 

“(Y/n), Keith, please come down to the dining room” Allura called on the intercom.

“Race you there?” Keith challenged you in a smug voice. You nodded in response. You may not be able to beat him, but it was worth a shot.

You burst through the door, panting, just seconds after Keith did so. You took a second to steady your breathing, then you looked up to see all eyes were on you.   
“Looks like I win” Keith said, smirking at you. You frowned and averted his gaze, not wanting to admit that he beat you. 

“Were the two of you racing just now?” Lance asked from his seat. You walked towards him and the others.  
“Maybe” you responded quietly. You didn’t want to talk about your defeat. 

“Did you beat Keith y/n?” Lance continued, excited. You shook your head in response. 

“I’ll beat him next time” you responded, glancing at Keith and giving him a small smirk. Then, you turned back towards Lance. “Anyways I’m glad to see you feeling better!”

“Hey thanks (Y/n)” Lance responded sincerely. “The others told me about you protecting me from Sendak. I really appreciate that.”

“Oh, you’re welcome I guess” you responded sheepishly. You felt as if Lance was giving you too much credit. “The others did a lot more though.   
you would be Sendak’s prisoner it wasn’t for the mice and Pidge. And if it wasn’t for Hunk and Coran bringing back a crystal, you would be dead. Pretty much everyone except me helped take down Sendak.”

“Wow! Thanks everybody!” Lance continued in the same tone. “It sounds like the mice did more than you though” Lance teased, turning towards Keith. 

“I punched Sendak!” Keith yelled in response. 

“Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off” Lance responded sarcastically. Keith looked like he was about to explode.

“We had a bonding moment! Keith screamed at Lance, throwing his arms up in the air. “I cradled you in my arms!”

“Nope, don’t remember, didn’t happen” Lance responded calmly.

“Whatever Lance!” Keith responded, crossing his arms, still irritated with him. 

“If anything, I had a bonding moment with (y/n).” Lance responded, still smirking at Keith.

“You weren’t the-“ Keith started to respond, but then he glanced towards you and shut his mouth. What the heck was going on with Keith today?   
“So what happened with Sendak?” Lance continued, turning away from Keith. 

“He’s frozen in a pod. Were keeping him in the castle“ Allura responded in a serious tone. What she said gave you goosebumps. It was pretty creepy that the guy who tortured you was still in the castle. It might be hard to sleep tonight because that guy would be sleeping in the same structure as you. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lance responded, skeptical. 

“He’s too dangerous to be set free” Allura declared. “Besides, we may get some valuable information about Zarkon from him.” After Allura said this, you were almost convinced that it was the right thing to do. She made some valid points, but you were still creeped out. Just thinking about Sendak sent shivers up your spine, hopefully you wouldn’t have to visit him. 

“So what’s the plan now?” Lance asked. 

“We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people!” Hunk declared confidently, confusing you. 

“Why? What’s going on?” You asked him. 

“Are you just hung up on a lady friend?” Lance added on, causing you to sigh in fusteration. 

“No, it’s not like that!” Hunk defended. His tone then became more serious. “Zarkon has not only severely mistreated these people, but he has also destroyed their home!” “He forces them to harvest crystals for him 24/7. These people have been under his thumb so long that they don’t know what the sky is like!”

You felt your blood start to boil, and you clenched your fists tightly. You wanted to punch Zarkon right in his ugly face! How dare he do this to people! He needs to be stopped!

“You’re right Hunk, that’s terrible” you said in a strong tone, venom in your voice. Then you turned to face everyone. “It’s up to us to set things right!” Your tone became more and more confident as you spoke. “This is what being a paladin of voltron is all about!”

“(Y/n)’s right, It’s time to man up!” Hunk added on. Then his voice became kinder as he turned back to you. “No offense (y/n)” 

“None taken” you responded back quickly. You wished he used a different phrase, but that didn’t matter now. You needed to save the Balmerans, there was no time to waste. 

“Well let’s get moving, it’s time to defend the universe!” Shiro added on in the same tone. You were about to leave to get your armor, but then Pidge spoke up. 

“Wait, I need to come clean about something” she said in a low tone, staring at the ground. Her voice seemed somewhat fearful, so you went over to her and placed your hand gently on her shoulder in support. You felt the tension release in her shoulder before she continued.

“I’m afraid this may change the way you all think about me. Just so there are no more secrets between us anymore, I can’t man up. I’m a girl.” You smiled softly to yourself. You were glad that Pidge trusted everyone enough to tell them her secret. Then, your smile dropped as you realized what she was saying. 

Pidge may have told everyone her secrets, but you were keeping many big ones from from mostly everyone. You were part of a team, so you should be more open. Should you tell the others about the incident? 

When you thought about it, you realized that it would just make things worse. There would be much more tension in your team. As much as you disliked Keith, you weren’t that mean. Everyone would be hating on and ridiculing him. A part of you thought he deserved that for what he did, but you would just be stopping to his level if you told everyone. 

You had no reason to feel guilty about keeping the secret because you would only feel worse if you told it to everyone. As you started realizing this, your frown left your face and your smile came back. 

“Wait, you’re a girl? How?” Lance screamed as he replied to Pidge, shocked. 

“I’ve known for quite some time now, but I’m glad you’ve shared it with everyone” Allura added on cheerfully. 

“Same here, that was pretty brave of you!” You replied, smiling wide at her. You saw her smile in response, you were glad that she had calmed down. As everyone else gave the same response, you saw her become calmer and calmer. Pretty much everyone knew already and was kind about it, except Lance. 

Even Keith gave her a small smile as he gave her his response. As you glanced at him, you realized that his rare smile wasn’t that bad. It was very soft and subtle, and he definitely looked less like the irritating boy that he was while he was smiling. You felt your own smile widen as you were glancing at him. 

“It’s good to finally get that off my chest” Pidge responded joyfully, jerking your attention away from Keith. “Now, let’s launch this castle-ship!”

“Wait, what? Pidge is a girl and the castle is a ship?” Lance gasped, still confused. “How long have I been out for?”

“Only about a day” you replied, still smiling. You didn’t know why, but you were in a good mood. You felt like you were floating on a cloud as you went to get your armor on. 

When Allura stood under the crystal, the room was filled with a light teal light. You were back in the control room in your sleek armor. Allura and Coran said something about boosters and turbines, and them You saw 5 seats rise up out of the floor behind the platform that Allura was on. 

Each one was the same navy blue as the floor of the control room, with glowing crystals that color coordinated with the colors of each lion. Then, two platforms rose out in front of Allura’s platform. They were a bit more ordinate then the rest. They looked like giant ovals, with a chunk taken out of the middle for a seat. The front half’s were pointed and bullet like, adorned with glowing blue crystals. The other half’s had a seat that looked just like the others, with. had glowing purple crystals for the black lion and one had glowing sliver crystals for you.

You ran over and sat down in your seat. Even though it seemed to be solid metal, it was actually quite soft and comfortable. It wasn’t comfy enough for you to fall asleep in, but you figured that was for the best.   
When you sat down, a holographic screen appeared on the device in front of you, displaying the castle as it was preparing for launch. 

“Firing main engines for launch!” Coran stated. This caused the walls of the control room to become clear like glass around you, allowing you to see the blue sky and mounds of Arus. Then, you felt your seat start to vibrate. It felt nothing like the discriptions of takeoffs for earths rockets, you weren’t experiencing heavy g-forces or anything. You watched silently in awe as you left the planet and were in space once more. 

“So when we get there, what do you think?” Hunk asked everyone, babbling excitedly. “Do we just fold up and start blasting, or do we have some sort of announcement like attention Galra, this is voltron, turn yourselves in?” He paused for a second, then continued. “No, just blasting”

“Hunk, calm down. And yes blasting.” Keith responded, rather calmly. You felt a part of you die inside. Why did Keith have to be so confusing? You decided to just suck it up, you had a mission to focus on anyways. 

“Yeah, the Galra wouldn’t listen to an announcement anyways” you added on gently. Hunk was obviously jittery, so you were trying to calm him down. 

“Aww, you two are finally agreeing on something!” You heard Allura remark cheerfully. You were immediately filled with anger towards her. You didn’t like others thinking that you and Keith were anything more than rivals, because that was the truth. Besides, your complex rivalry with him was none of her business. 

“Shut up!” Keith retorted quickly, crossing his arms and dramatically turning away from you. You narrowed your eyes and glared at Allura for a solid minute. You stopped when you glanced at everyone else in the room. You had created a very tense environment, and Allura was just trying to be positive. Way to go (y/n), always making things worse. You had to do something to fix the situation, Allura seemed hurt. 

“Keith, don’t be so rude about it, she was just trying to be positive” you scolded him gently. 

“Sorry Allura” Keith admitted in a low voice, staring at the floor. This caused your jaw to drop. Did Keith just apologize? Did he just listen to you? You didn’t think he would ever do that, but yet again, it probably wasn’t sincere. It was probably just like that “apology” he gave you outside the shack, empty and manipulative. 

“It’s okay Keith” she responded with a small smile. You facepalmed in response. Of course she fell for his false apology, but you couldn’t blame her since she didn’t know his past like you do. Everyone else started smiling, glad that the conflict seemed resolved. You also felt your spirits lift as well, Keith’s apology may not be sincere, but he actually listened to you for once! You felt a huge sense of accomplishment because of that. 

Since everyone seemed to be more relaxed now, you turned your attention back to Hunk. 

“Anyways, it’s understandable that you’re excited Hunk” you said in a kind voice. “It’s our first mission anyways.”

“Excited to see his new girlfriend!” Pidge teased. You started to get a bit irritated with her. You knew the pain of being teased for things of that nature all too well. Everyone would tease you about dating James, even though the two of you never dated. Just because two people are friends doesn’t mean they’re dating! Hunk shouldn’t be teased about it. 

“She is not my girlfriend, she is just a rock that I happen to admire” Hunk snapped. 

“Relax Hunk, you shouldn’t be ashamed that you have a friend who happens to be a girl” you told him gently, giving him a small yet genuine smile. “Besides, this Shay sounds like a good person! Could you tell me more about her?“

Before Hunk could respond, a mechanical beeping filled the room, filling you with dread. 

“What is it? Are we being attacked?“ Lance asked Allura, panicking. You were a bit worried as well, especially since the last time it happened Keith tried to attack an arusian. 

“No, it seems to be a distress beacon” Allura responded joyfully. 

“It’s coming from a nearby moon” Coran informed. “Apparently a ship has lost power.”

“I wonder who it is” Pidge added on. You assumed whoever it was wasn’t human since you were very far from Earth. They would probably be some new species of Alien, so you were pretty curious as well. 

“Whoever it is will have to wait” Hunk stated firmly. “Shay has first priority. We can check back on them when we’re done.”

“The paladin code states that we must help all those in need” Allura responded, clearly in favor of helping those who sent the signal. 

Even though you were curious about the Aliens, you had to admit that Hunk was right. Since helping both groups seemed morally correct, you had to think about this situation logically. 

“I understand that, but doesn’t the needs of the millions of Balmerans outweigh the needs of the few on the ship?” You told Allura, trying to remain a clam tone. 

“Yeah! What y/n said!” Hunk cheered in response. 

“Well these people are on our way” Allura continued, clearly not listening to you. You rolled your eyes in response. “Who knows who they may be? They could help us!” 

“Or hinder us!” Keith added on. You found it ironic that Keith was warning about them not being who they seem because Keith was misleading as well. Before the incident, he didn’t seem too cruel. You were glad that you had an extra person on your side though. 

“Keith, y/n, stop being so pessimistic” Lance complained. Then his voice became joyful. “This is so cool! It’s like we are space cops on space patrol! Coran, do you have a siren we could turn on?” You sighed in frustration. Lance was acting super childish right now. You didn’t mind a bit of immaturity now and then, but this was a mission so it should be serious. 

“No, but I could record you making a siren noise and broadcast it to them” Coran said happily. It sounded like Coran was encouraging Lance’s immature antics.

“Please don’t!” You pleaded with Coran. You had heard Lance’s “siren” noises and many others when the two of you went to the garrison. They were one of the most annoying things to you at the time, second only to Keith. 

However, it didn’t seem like Lance nor Coran heard you. 

“Wheeeeer...” Lance bellowed, causing you to cover your ears, cringe, and wince in pain. He sounded like a rubber chicken being slammed on the ground, on repeat. 

“Nope, were not doing that” Shiro remarked while placing a hand over Lance’s mouth, silencing him.   
“Thanks Shiro” you mumbled. 

“I couldn’t help it” Shiro responded, shrugging. Then, he released his hand from Lance’s mouth.   
Before you knew it, you had arrived at your destination. You felt the castle vibrate softly as you entered the planet’s atmosphere. You looked outside and saw nothing but hazy grey clouds and blowing debris, illuminated by the teal glows of the castles exterior. You heard the rumbling of the castles engines as it was slowing it’s decent. Then, you heard a soft thud and the floor quaked as the castle hit the surface of the planet. 

“Attention damaged craft, this is princess Allura. We are coming to assist you. 

After the dust cleared, you were able to examine the planet around you from the screens of the castle. The atmosphere appeared to be a shade of a violent, magenta pink. You felt a shiver up your spine as you stared at it, it was the Galras color. Despite the atmosphere being that color, the planet really did look beautiful outside. The bright purple and pink of the atmosphere seemed to enhance the light mint of the planets surface. The planets surface appeared jagged and rocky, with mountains, cliffs, and plateaus made of the green material. 

“Stay aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy as you can” Allura instructed Coran, turning your thoughts away from the planet. “We’ll see who hailed us.”

As you walked out on the planet’s surface, you were met by the smiles of two aliens. The guy seemed like he could be a human, minus the light purple skin, white hair, and small magenta spots. He wore a blue vest and brown trousers, with his chest partially exposed.

The female seemed to be of a complete different race of aliens. She had light orange-yellow skin, a light yellow face and neck, pointed ears, and a striking pair of purple eyes. She wore a green outfit made up of skin-tight pants and a very cropped top. When you looked at her, you felt a surge of pity. She seemed to fit Lance’s mold of a “pretty girl”, so he would definitely be flirting with her. You didn’t know how to feel about the guy, his appearance was ragged and he seemed a bit sketchy. You knew you couldn’t judge based on appearance though. 

“You don’t know how glad we are to see some friendly faces” the man said casually. “Most folks don’t want to get tangled up with anyone who is on the run from the Galra.” This statement made you raise an eyebrow. Sure, they did look ragged enough to match that discription, but they were strangely calm. Too calm to be “on the run from the Galra”. You scolded yourself again, you shouldn’t be so skeptical. 

“So you guys are fighting the Galra?” Shiro asked them in a serious tone. 

“Well I don’t think Zarkon is quaking in his boots at the three of us, but we do what we can” the guy explained, still keeping his casual tone. “I’m Rolo” He pointed at himself. “This is Nyma” he continued, pointing at the girl, “and our cyber unit Beezer” 

You then examined Beezer. It was grey with blue details. It had a rectangular box as a body, a tube-like neck, and a black circle for a face. Around the face it had two little round blue cones sticking out to the sides. It had a bright green line on its face. 

“Hi” Nyma said confidently, gazing at everyone. You glanced at Lance and saw his face become bright red. He started to drool, and then headed over to her. 

“Hi, the names Lance, he said flirtatiously, taking her hand. You were about to approach them if she wanted Lance to stop, but then she giggled in response to his flirting. You were going to warn her about how much of a player Lance is, but you figured that she would figure it out for herself pretty soon. 

Pidge squealed with joy as she say beezer.

 

“Cool robot!” She exclaimed, running over to it. Only you, Hunk, Keith, Shiro and Allura seemed to be taking this mission seriously. 

“Was your ship damaged in a fight?” Shiro asked Rolo. 

“Yeah, we’ve really been through it with the Galra” Rolo responded, still keeping his casual tone. Why wasn’t he answering Shiro’s question? “Parts are hard to come by. Luckily we were able to limp to this moon a month ago. If you didn’t pick up on our distress signal I-“

“We’re happy to help” Allura interrupted him in a cheery voice. “I am princess Allura of altea, and from now on you won’t be fighting alone against the Galra.” Then, she pointed towards you and the other paladins. “You’ll have the paladins of voltron by your side!”

“Ok?” Rolo, responded, a bit confused and disappointed. He crossed his arms and stared at Pidge and Lance, who were still distracted by Nyma and Beezer. 

“I don’t think you’ve heard of us” Shiro concluded while examining him. 

“Well it has been ten thousand years” Keith added on sarcastically. Just great, now only four of you were being serious and mature about your mission. 

“Voltron? Six robot lions that combine to form this big robot guy?” Lance asked Rolo, trying to jog his memory.

“Sounds impressive!” Rolo remarked, still keeping his casual tone. “I’d like to see it or him, them..” For some odd reason, you didn’t feel like showing him voltron. Even though it was powerful enough to wipe him out if needed, it still made you feel uneasy. You wouldn’t want a potential enemy to see your greatest weapon. Not that Rolo was your enemy, but he was suspiciously calm. 

“Why don’t we start working on your ship” Hunk told Rolo a bit coldly. “I’m sure we’ve all have places to be.”

“Sure!” Rolo responded, still calm after Hunks behavior. You glanced at Hunk in concern, he seemed to be pretty upset. You walked over to him and whispered in a soothing voice,

“Well help them soon”

“Yeah I know, but these guys are slowing us down” Hunk whispered back sadly. “The more time we spend with these guys the more time Shay and her people are in misery.“

“Pretty much our whole flaxum assembly is shot” Rolo explained, jerking Hunks attention away from you while opening up a compartment on his ship. “I don’t know what type of parts you have in this rig of yours, I’ve never seen anything like it!“

“I’m sure we can get you back up and running” Allura responded cheerfully. “Give Hunk a list of what you need and Coran can show you where to find it.”

“Ok” Rolo replied. “We’ll go with you. We don’t want you to have to carry all that yourself. Come on guys!” Rolo started to head towards the castle, but Hunk stopped him. 

“Uh, I don’t think so, you can just wait out here” he continued in his cold voice. You knew that Hunk had a valid reason for keeping Rolo out of the castle, but he could have been nicer about it. 

“It’s nice that you want to help, but Hunks got it covered” you added on gently. 

“Hunk, don’t be rude!” Allura scolded. 

“Yeah Hunk, mind your manners” Lance added on. He then turned to Nyma. “There are ladies present!”

“Seriously Lance?” You fired back at him, crossing your arms. “You’re one to talk. When will you stop flirting?” You didn’t think Lance’s flirting was very kind because he was just leading girls on. He didn’t care about them, he just wanted attention. 

“When beautiful ladies stop being around me” Lance responded, giving Nyma finger guns in response. She giggled and blushed. 

You groaned in response and facepalmed, Lance was never going to learn. 

“Oh, I’m sorry but does anybody remember what happened when we let our guard down last time?” Hunk said angrily. “Someone set off a bomb. Someone tortured (Y/n). Remember Lance? You and (Y/n) almost died.” 

That reminder felt like a punch to the stomach. You shivered, remembering the pain Sendak put you through and his maniacal smile. He was way worse than Keith. 

You glanced towards the others. Everyone seemed upset at the mention of those events. Surprisingly, Keith seemed to be the most upset out of everyone. When you saw his face, you had the sudden urge to go and comfort him, but you bit your tongue. He was your rival so you couldn’t do that. You shouldn’t feel guilty about it when he made you feel what he was currently feeling a year and a half ago. 

“Hunk’s right, we have to be cautious” Shiro confirmed in a serious tone, hands on his hips, stepping forward to stand next to Hunk. 

“Hey, I don’t take it personally” Rolo responded. With every word that came out his mouth, you became even more suspicious. How is he so freakin calm? “That’s how it is out here. You got to look out for your own” then he turned to Hunk. “You’re doing a great job big man.”

“Yeah, thanks“ Hunk responded, still upset. You sighed in response. If Hunk keeps this up, Rolo would realize that the two of you were on to him. If Rolo was to try something, you wouldn’t have the element of surprise. 

You walked inside of the castle with Hunk. It was silent, except for the clanking of your metal shoes on the metal ground. You were now out of earshot of the others. 

“Hey, it’s ok to be suspicious” you told him gently.

“Yeah, I just have a bad feeling about these guys” Hunk responded sadly. “Does something seem off to you about them?”

“Well They’re awfully calm for someone who is on the run from the Galra” you explained calmly. “Especially when you consider the small chance their tiny ship has against the massive power of the Galra. 

“That’s right!” Hunk exclaimed. “They’re up to something!” 

“But what could they be up to exactly?” You asked him, raising an eyebrow. You didn’t pick up on any clues that could show what they are planning. Hunk was quiet for a minute before he was responded.

“They might be trying to steal voltron from us like the Galra!” 

“Maybe, but they don’t seem like they have the means to do that” you concluded, thinking about how small their ship was and the condition it was in.

“Well What do you think they’re planning?” Hunk asked, confusion in his voice. You thought for a bit before you responded. 

“Maybe they’re trying to get information about us” you guessed. Hunk was still scrunching his forehead, so you decided to elaborate on your idea. “They may be trying to find out information about voltron. I bet the Galra would love that information.” 

“That makes sense. What can we do about it?” Hunk replied. 

“Well for one, we should try to withhold as much information as we can, without it seeming suspicious” you reasoned, trying to appear confident about it when you were actually uneasy about your plan of action. You might be able to withhold some information, but Allura would probably tell them all of it anyways. 

“On that note, maybe you shouldn’t make it so obvious that you’re suspicious” you continued, remembering how grumpy Hunk was earlier. “If you keep it up, we won’t have the element of surprise on our side.”

“I respect your opinion and all (Y/n), but I don’t think we need the element of surprise.” Hunk began apologetically. You frowned at him in response, he shouldn’t underestimate the element of surprise like you had done in the past. When Keith surprised you by your actions during both the incident with James and the incident in the med bay, you learned how effective the element of surprise is. 

You came out of the castle holding a small white container while Hunk was carrying a much larger one. You hoped that the boxes would have all the parts that the Aliens needed. The quicker that they get away from you the better. 

Keith, Allura, and Shiro we’re sitting around a campfire with Rolo. They didn’t seem like they were telling scary stories or roasting marshmallows though. Their faces were serious and grim, you wondered what they had been talking about. 

“Well, I hope there are some parts in here that’ll fit” you told Rolo with a fake smile plastered on your face. However, he wasn’t responding. 

“You know, to get your ship moving” Hunk added on, irritation in his voice. 

“Great, thanks” Rolo replied, still in his suspiciously calm tone. While Hunk was tinkering with the tools and Rolos ship, you decided to join the conversation with the others. 

“So can you tell us about Zarkons forces?” Shiro began in a serious tone. “Where are they concentrated?” You glanced towards Shiro in slight awe, that was a pretty good question. You hadn’t thought about that one. 

“Well his command center sits right in the center of his empire” Rolo explained. You didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not, but his answer did seem reasonable. Surprisingly, his voice seemed a bit angrier than usual. “He mostly calls his shots from there, and his minions do all the work, depending on who’s the closest. This is the territory of a real nasty bugger called Sendak.” 

“We’ve met” you heard Keith growl. You jerked towards him, wide-eyed. It’s understandable that Keith would hate Sendak because of who he is and because he tried to take voltron twice. However, You didn’t think Keith would be that mad at Sendak especially since they had little interaction. Did Sendak do something horrible to Keith while you were unconscious? 

“How far are we from the center?” Shiro continued. 

“Were way out on the fringes” Rolo responded. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but I think you guys are kind of keeping Rolo from working” Hunk piped up. He still seemed irritated though, he obviously didn’t care about the element of surprise. “It’s just that we’re in a hurry, a hero named Shay saved my life and I swore I would return to do the same for her and her people.” Hunk was rambling. “You understand right?” 

“Sure, sorry” Rolo responded, going over to his ship to start working on it. 

“Hunk, were going to get going soon, but I think he has some information that could help us.” Shiro told Hunk. You considered telling Shiro about your suspicions, but you figured that he probably wouldn’t listen. Shiro seemed only concerned about the information he could get out of Rolo, not information Rolo could be trying to get out of him. Besides, Shiro probably was already worrying about a million things. You didn’t want to stress him out. 

“I don’t trust this guy as far as I could throw him” Hunk muttered angrily under his breath in response to Shiro. Shiro didn’t respond to Hunk being suspicious, showing that he only was carring about the information like you had predicted. You sighed in annoyance and went towards Shiro and Keith, who were approaching Rolo while he worked. 

“So, there are more freedom fighters?” Shiro asked him. “Any more organized resistance against the Galra?” You hoped there were, you didn’t think voltron would be able to fight the Galra alone. You figured that Voltron probably could at some point, but you haven’t had enough experience with your lion for that. 

“Only folks that haven’t been colonized yet” Rolo responded, still calm. “Or the lucky, like us who managed to escape somehow.”

“Well we’re going to change all of that.” Keith said confidently, placing his hands on his hips. Even though you hated agreeing with him, he was right. You were going to become a fearsome force against the Galra, and possibly unite others to do the same when you free planets. You had to if you were going to stop Zarkon’s tyranny someday. 

“Well that’s good to hear, but I’ve got to warn you, it’s pretty bad out there” Rolo warned. “You don’t know what your up against.“ For some reason, his response angered you. Of course you knew what you were up against! You had fought both the robeast and Sendak. You knew how cruel the Galra could be on a personal level since Sendak tortured you. It seemed almost as if Rolo didn’t want you to be fighting the Galra! 

“It may be tough, but that’s exactly why we need to help” you snapped back, taking a low tone. “The Galra are the most selfish people I’ve met. They take what they want from planets and people, without caring who they hurt in the process. With every word your voice became stronger, it was now taking a venemous tone as you recalled the injustice they were causing. “We need to stop them!” 

“Especially Sendak. He needs to pay for what he did” Keith added on, snarling. You wondered what Sendak did while you were knocked out that angered Keith so much. It’s impossible that you getting tortured was the reason for Keith’s anger, so it must have been something else. Keith couldn’t care less about you, if he did he wouldn’t have hurt James. At the very least he would have apologized by now. You were going to ask Keith what made him so mad, but making him recall it might just make him madder. So instead, you just said in response, 

“Yeah, he’s pretty rotten.” 

“Awww!” You heard Pidge squeal. 

“Pidge!“ you and Keith scolded in unison. Once you realized what had happened you glanced at Keith for a second, wide-eyed. When you saw how his annoyed then shocked face mirrored yours, a chill ran up your spine. It was pretty strange and eerie that someone who was your opposite would be in sync with you, both verbally and emotionally. 

You shook your head and walked over to Pidge. You needed a break, he was just too weird today. Pidge was literally planking on rover. You smirked in response, she was such a goof. 

“I don’t think you can tease me and Keith about agreeing on something when you’re swooning over a robot.” You teased back. 

“So you finally admitt it” she retorted, giving you a smug smile. You rolled your eyes in response, it wasn’t that big of a deal. You could agree on small things with Keith, like a favorite color, and still be his rival. 

“So what? He’s still my rival” you snapped in response, crossing your arms. You were going to explain your reasoning to Pidge, but then you saw a sight in the sky that made your jaw drop. 

The blue lion was in the magenta sky, shades of pink and purple reflecting from the surface of the lion. Lance should know better! He shouldn’t take a possible enemy inside our greatest weapon! You slid your helmet back on.

“What the heck Lance!” you shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?” 

“I’m just taking my new girlfriend out for a ride” he said smugly, as if it was some sort of accomplishment. “Why, you jealous?

“Never in a million years!” You retorted back. You would never have a crush on a player like him. However, he was your teammate and he wasn’t as horrible as Keith, so you didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Your tone became softer as you continued. “You’re a decent paladin and all, but no.” Lance was silent in response. The silence was starting to become awkward, so you slid your helmet back off. 

“Idiot” Keith muttered, crossing his arms. You raised an eyebrow in response and stared at him. Was he talking about you? Keiths eyes met yours once more then explained. “Lance is so annoying, I wish he would just stop flirting.” 

“Well he’s not as annoying as you!” you teased back smirking at Keith. You would rather tease him than admit that you agree. 

“Oh yeah? Please, you’re more annoying than me.” Keith responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm. You then realized Keith had never told you why you annoy him so much. You had a hunch it had to do with your past friendship with James, but you weren’t sure. Maybe you could hear it from him. 

“And what’s so annoying about me?” you replied, your smug tone becoming more inquisitive.   
“Ummm, none of your business” Keith mumbled lowly, his voice unsteady. You knew you wouldn’t be getting an answer from him, so you walked towards Shiro and Allura. 

“All right, I think this thing is just about ready for a test flight” Rolo announced, still casual as always. He seemed to be in a hurry for some reason though. “Beezer, come co pilot for me. Be back in a tick.”

Before you knew it he was gone. You decided to talk to talk to Allura and Shiro while you waited for Rolo to return.   
“What’s a tick?” you asked Shiro, raising an eyebrow. He seemed to know what it meant earlier, but you were still confused. 

“It’s like a second, but a bit longer” Shiro responded calmly. 

“Oh, ok” you replied. 

It felt like it had been hours since you last saw Rolo and the rest of the Aliens. It had only been about a couple of minutes, but they were long, sluggish minutes around the campfire. You, Allura, Shiro, Keith, Pidge, and Hunk had been sitting around the campfire ever since they left. Everyone was quiet, the atmosphere tensing even more every minute. You would have started a conversation with the others, but Keith was there, listening in. 

“How many ticks has it been?” Hunk said nervously, breaking the silence.   
“I don’t know” Shiro responded. 

“I hope they don’t break down again” Allura added on in a concerned voice. 

“Something isn’t right” Hunk concluded. You had to agree with him, everything was just so calm. You had completed your mission without dealing with the Galra or one of their robeasts. It seemed like the calm before the storm. 

“Guys? Hello? A little help?” You heard Lance call from your helmet. That phrase sent your heart racing as you picked your helmet up and slid it back on. 

“Lance?” Shiro responded back, his voice serious. 

“Are you alright?” Allura added on, her voice filled with worry. 

“What’s going on?” You asked him, your voice a bit unsteady. Yes, you were worrying about Lance, but you were more worried about the reason for his distress. It could be the Galra, or even Zarkon for all you know. 

“Well I’m kind of chained to a tree” Lance said awkwardly.

“I knew it!” Hunk chanted angrily, interrupting Lance. 

“And I think Nyma and Rolo just stole the blue lion” He finished. So that was the punchline you had been waiting for. Your eyes widened like saucers, you weren’t expecting that. You thought they wouldn’t have the equipment to do so, but they did. Yet again, you were wrong. You felt super stupid, it was like you picked the right answer on a test and changed it last minute. 

“I knew it!” Hunk chanted once more. 

“Where are they?” Shiro asked, a hit of anger in his usually serious voice. 

“Uh, space” Lance responded, still unsure. 

“Oh I never trusted these guys from the beginning!” Hunk remarked with an accusing tone. 

“Same here” you mumbled in response as you went to your Lion, ready for action. 

You were back in space once more, along with the other six paladins. You were flying at medium speed so you could stay with the others. You were chasing Rolo’s white, orange, and green ship. Your heart was still pounding.

It was mostly because of the stress from your current situation, but the speeds you were at weren’t helping one bit. If you weren’t trying to get the blue lion back, then you would be loving every second of this. You loved the adrenaline in your veins, the soft vibration of your seat, the g forces pushing you back in your seat, and the twisting landscape of stars and galaxies around you. 

However, the stress of the current situation took all that fun away. If you lost the blue lion, then you couldn’t form voltron. Without voltron, You couldn’t save planets like the Balmera or protect the castle from total destruction. Not to mention that the Galra would probably be on the receiving end of the lion. What if they found a pilot for it and used it against you? Knowing them, they would be able to unlock all Its features and enhance them with their tech. 

 

Then, a low, mechanical growl jostled you from your thoughts. Your eyes widened in response. Was that your lion?

“Ok I’ll stop panicking” you reassured her, a small smile coming to your face. You were glad that she cared about you, even though she was a robot. She gave a low purr in response, and you immediately felt much calmer. She was just a big cat after all. 

You closed your eyes and took several deep breaths. You realized you shouldn’t be worrying about all of the “what if”s, especially since you and the others could easily take down Rolo’s ship. 

“We’ll never get through this asteroid feild!” Pidge wailed in dismay. You opened your eyes once more to see this asteroid feild she was talking about. When you saw it, you felt your smile widen. They may not be able to fly through, but you certainly could. This was going to be fun. Plus, it might be a bit satisfiying to wreck Rolos ship a after what he did. 

“Maybe I can just bust through!” Hunk said hopefully, ramming his Lion against one of the boulders. It moved a couple of inches while Hunk took the majority of the impact. You winced as you saw the yellow lion tumbling backwards. 

“Nope, that was wrong” he admitted nervously, clearly embarrassed. “That was a bad idea.” You squeezed your controls tight as you waited for the command from Shiro. 

“Keith, (Y/n), you are the only two who could possibly fly though this” Shiro ordered, his tone serious. “Get in there and flush them out. Make sure to not turn this into a competition you two. Focus on getting the blue lion back. We need you.”

“You got it” Keith replied, his tone confident. 

“See you on the other side!” You added on, your tone matching Keith’s. Then, a new window approached to the side of your screen. Keith was sending you a transmission. You muted your helmets microphone, not wanting the others to overhear. 

“You ready (y/n)” Keith asked you, his voice smug. In response, you pushed your lever forward and shot straight past him. You were now zigzagging and doging the huge stones. 

“Hey, I thought we weren’t going to make this into a competition” Keith continued taunting you. 

“I’m not making this into a competition” you said defensively, “I was just trying to get you to shut up so we can focus on the mission!” To your surprise, Keith shut up in response. 

You and Keith had caught up to Rolo’s ship. You got right in front of it so you could chase it back to the others. It started shooting purple laser beams your way. You dodged the shots and shot your own in response. Keith seemed to have the same idea. Now that the ship had two large steady fiery blue beams coming it’s way, it was forced to fly in between them.

 

You had him right were you wanted him. Keith’s lion threw its jaw blade at the ship, taking out its defenses. Then, you focused your beam on the back of the ship. It glowed until it became a firey red.

A plume of smoke filled the air. The engine was finally down. The ship started to spin a bit. On instinct, you dug your lions claws into the ship and turned on your boosters. As much as you disliked Rolo and his group, they shouldn’t die. Besides, you were supposed to bring peace to the universe, not kill others like the Galra. Keith did the same, and you both carried the ship down to the planet’s surface. 

“Yeah!” Keith cheered. 

“Woo hoo!” You added on, throwing your arms in the air.   
We make a good team, right Keith?” You teased Keith. You expected that he would get all defensive in response since he hates you. 

“Yeah, I guess so” Keith responded in a soft voice. You felt your heart stop for a second, did that actually happen? For a second, you thought that he may not hate you after all. Then, you immediately shook that thought out of your head. He was probably just messing with you. But his tone was so sincere-

“Snap out of it (y/n)” you commanded yourself, slapping your helmet. 

“What was that?” Keith responsed, his tone smug. You glanced at his smirking face on your dashboard. 

“Umm nothing!” You stammered quickly. You unmuted your helmet to talk to Lance, trying to end your current conversation with Keith. 

“Hey Lance, we got your lion back” you told him, your voice cheerful. 

“Thank you keith and (Y/n)” Lance responded, his tone sincere. “Now, can you come here and unchain me?”

“Uhh, whats that? I can’t hear you” Keith teased him in response. 

“Keith!” Lance whined in response. Yoy chuckled softly. Lance was just like a toddler. 

“We’ll get you in a bit Lance” you reassured him. “We’ve got something to take care of first.” Then, you muted your helmet once more and turned to face Keith.

 

“Race you there?” you challenged him. “We never got to continue our orginal race anyways.“ 

 

“Oh, you’re on!” Keith replied. 

You pushed your handle to the max. You slipped into complete bliss once more as you raced Keith. There was just something about racing him that made you happy. Your smile widened so much that your cheeks were feeling sore. Your heart was pounding, You loved the adrenaline that was in your veins, filling you with extra energy. Your seat was vibrating softly and the g forces were pushing you backwards, causing your body to instantly relax and let go of the stresses of the day.

You entered the planets magenta atmosphere and the twisting mint landscape of the planet appeared around you. You were enjoying every second of this.   
You ran out of your lion and slapped the trunk of a tree across from where Lance was chained. You stood there, panting heavily. Then, you looked over and saw Keith, who was a couple of feet away from you. His eyes were wide and his mouth was wide open. Your smile became a smirk as you examined him. 

“Looks like I win Kogane” you teased with a smug tone. He walked closer towards you in response. 

“You won’t be winning next time” he huffed, placing his hand on the tree as well. His dark, purple-blue eyes locked onto yours. You felt the cool metal of his armor at the fingertips of your gloves. You glanced upwards. His hand was right above yours. 

“I can’t wait” you replied, widening your smirk. Then, you looked downwards at Keith once more. You froze in place, his face was only inches from yours. Too close. You felt your heart start to race once more. 

“Will you two stop flirting and unchain me?” Lance whined. 

If looks could kill, Lance McClain would be dead right now. Keith took his hand from the tree and stormed over to his lion. 

“What the hell Lance!” You screamed at him, your voice shaky. “You know that me and Keith are rivals.” Then, you stomped over to him. “How dare you suggest such a thing!”

His smirk immediately left his face as you ripped his handcuffs from the tree, causing him to fall over onto the ground. 

“Aw, come on (y/n), I thought we bonded” he complained. 

“Nope, don’t remember, didn’t happen” you responded, quoting what Lance told Keith earlier. 

You and the other paladins were currently giving Rolo and his team a stare down. 

“Since your ship really doesn’t work now, you’ll have to wait here for a rescue” Shiro told them coldly. 

“Thanks for sparring our lives” Rolo mumbled, staring at the ground. 

“Now that these guys are dealt with, let’s get to the balmera and save shay and her family!” Hunk declared.

“You may not believe this, but I hope you do fight Zarkon” Rolo admitted. “It’s a lifetime of fighting the Galra that led me to where I am today.” 

“Well if what youre saying is true, then I hope that you’ll be fighting the Galra alongside us someday when you realize which side to choose” you told him, your voice kind. If you were nice towards them, they could become your allies in the future. You didn’t want this mission to have been a waste of time. You could use their cunning on your side of the fight. 

“Thank you” Rolo responded giving you a very faint smile. 

You boarded the castle once more with everyone else. You were about to head to the kitchen when Shiro approached you.

“Um hey (y/n) Shiro said timidly, stratching the back of his head. 

“Oh, hi Shiro!” You responded in a cheerful voice. 

“I’d like to say thank you for saving me and getting tortured instead of me” Shiro said gently, giving you a soft, but sincere smile. You returned his smile with your own, it was very kind of him to thank you, even though you didn’t think it was necessary. “What you did, is one of the most selfless things you can ever do. I feel like I owe you my life now.” 

“Well, I didn’t die, so don’t worry about it Shiro” you responded calmly. “You worry about too much already.”

“Ok, I also want to let you know that you’re not weak like you said you were” Shiro added on. “In fact, I’d have to say that you’re the strongest out of all of us, maybe maybe me.”

You gasped in response, taken aback by what he said. You became confused. How could you possibly be the strongest compared to them?

“But I-i” you stammered. 

“It doesn’t matter how physically strong you are” Shiro said confidently, cutting you off. “You’ve been through that incident with Keith, and yet you can still work well with him. You ended your friendship with your best friend of several years. You’ve been through so much, and you have proven yourself time and time again to be the strongest. I hope that someday youll realize that.”

You felt your heart melt and your smile widen. Shiro always knew what to say to make you feel better, even if you may not believe it yourself. Shiro was starting to become a father figure for you. You were glad that he was the leader of voltron. 

“Thank you Shiro” you responded kindly. 

“Anyways, we still have some time before we reach the balmera, so I’m going to go confront Keith” Shiro said, before running out. 

“Good luck!” You called to him as he left.


	12. Chapter 12

You only had a couple more hours before you would be arriving at the Balmera. However, that time had slowed to a crawl for you as you were worrying about the outcome of Shiro’s conversation with Keith. You were pacing back and forth in one of the empty hallways of the castle. Your palms were sweaty, your heart was pounding wildly, your breathing was slightly unsteady, and a million thoughts weare running through your head. 

You wondered if Keith would listen to what Shiro has to say about the incident. You figured he probably wouldn’t since he wasn’t sorry for torturing James. If he was sorry, he would have apologized to you, which he hasn’t done.

You wondered if Keith will get mad with you for telling Shiro. Keith had a short fuse, he got mad about almost anything. Plus, Shiro’s probably mad at him, so he has even more of a reason to lash out at you.

If Keith got after you for telling Shiro about the incident, then the incident would get brought up. As you realized this, you started to tremble. Usually you were ok with confrontations involving Keith because you’ve had years of experience. However, the idea of Keith confronting you about the incident made your teeth chatter and your blood run cold. The incident alone was scary enough, you wondered if talking to Keith about it would give you nightmares as well. 

“Uh, you ok, (y/n)?” you heard Lance call out of nowhere as he started to walk through the hallway, his voice full of concern and uncertainty. You jumped slightly in response as he surprised you. Then you glanced towards him ang gave him your best fake smile. 

“Yeah, I’m fine” you responded, trying to keep your tone casual. Lance nodded in response. Once he turned the corner, you sighed in relief. 

“Hey (y/n)” someone mumbled timidly, causing you to freeze. You could recognize that voice from anywhere, it was Keith’s. A shiver ran down your spine. He came out of nowhere! 

“Keith!” You scolded him, turning around to face him. “You gotta stop creeping up on me like that!” You took a deep breath and continued to ten, waiting for him to fire back a response as usual. 

“Oh, sorry, Could I talk to you about something?” Keith replied, scratching the back of his neck. His voice was still quivering. Your eyes widened in surprise at Keith’s very abnormal response, but then fear took over you. Your felt yourself begin to tremble once more and your stomach twisted in knots.

His apologetic response could only mean one thing: he wanted to talk to you about the incident. You took a couple seconds to try and calm yourself down, but it barely did anything. 

“Um sure, But not here” you responded while staring at the ground, your voice uneasy. Keith nodded in response while his eyes were glued to the floor. He turned away from you and started to walk forwards. You assumed you were supposed to follow him to a more private location, so that’s what you did. When you were following him through the halls, it was so quiet that you could hear a pen drop. Your heart was beating so loud that you swore Keith was hearing it as well. 

Once you reached the lounge, you sat down on one of the couches and Keith sat on the one across from you. You took a deep breath and swallowed hard. 

“So what did you want to talk to me about?“ you asked him, trying to steady your trembling voice. You already knew the answer, but you didn’t want to say it. 

“S-something that I did-d over a year ago” Keith responded, stammering. The next thing you knew, your emotions were a mess. Hearing his cracking voice felt like a punch to the stomach, which both upset and confused you. Why the heck was he affecting you so much? 

All the same, you felt yourself grow warm and your fists started to clench as you recalled everything Keith did to you and everything he did to James in that incident. The sound of James bloodcurdling screams and the image his maroon blood splattered on the floor flooded your mind. You remembered how weak and helpless he made you feel in that moment. 

At this point, your anger was overpowering all of you previous emotions. You felt your fingers dig into you palm as you remembered how weak and helpless he made you feel. Your eyes narrowed to slits as you recalled that all those times you woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare were caused by him.

“When I-when I pulled my-“ Keith continued.

“When you pulled your blade on James and tortured him” you finished his sentence coldly. You got angrier and angrier by the second, by now your anger was practically boiling over. You chose to surpress your anger for now as you sat there with your arms crossed. You decided you should let Keith talk before you blew up on him. 

“Look (y/n), I should have never done that to James” Keith said, his voice low. You sensed a bit of regret in his voice, which slightly snapped you out of your angry trance. “What I did was wrong.” 

You wondered if you should forgive him. You were tempted to because of your conscience. You knew deep down it was the right thing to do. However, for once in your life, you felt like you needed to ignore your conscience. You simply didn’t feel like forgiving him after what he did. You were way too angry for that. Plus, his apology probably wasn’t real anyways. 

You realized that forgivenesses would mean that the incident was okay, when it wasn’t. If you forgave him, you would be telling him that his torture of James was no big deal to you, when it had plagued you with nightmares ever since. You would be expected to become friends with that monster. It would mean that Keith would be getting off scot free when it came to what he did to you. Keith would never have to face the consequences, and that wasn’t right nor fair. It was time Keith got what he deserved. 

 

“And you’re only realizing this now?” You snapped at him, starting to unleash your anger. You raised your head to glare at him. “It’s almost been two years!”

“I’m sorry” Keith croaked, his head in his hands. You saw a tear escape and plop on the ground, but you ignored it. Keith deserved this for the crimes he had committed. Plus, it could be fake for all you knew.

“Why are you apologizing now?” you asked, your voice taking an accusing tone. Then your voice got much louder. “Shiro put you up to this, didn’t he?” Keith nodded in response. That’s it! His apology was definitely fake! 

“You aren’t really sorry then, you’re just apologizing because Shiro told you to!” You yelled as loudly as you could. Keith raised his head and looked you head in the eye. His eyes were glassy and his face was shiny from the trails of tears. 

“I’m apologizing because I truly am sorry ok?” he told you, his voice firm and defensive, yet broken. You fell silent, could he really be sorry? After everything he’s done? After everything he put you and James through? He definitely seemed sorry, but you still couldn’t let this go. Justice had to be served, even if it was a different kind than you were used to. 

 

“So what if you are?” You responded, your voice low and venomous. You started to tremble violenty and your eyes started to tear up. Your throat began to feel sore, it hurt to speak. You clenched your fists even harder. “It could never erase the damage you caused James and the damage you caused me.” Your voice became louder and louder with every word. 

“I was scared for my life because of you! My life!” You screamed at him, your voice creaking while you pointed a shaking finger at him. 

“I’m scarred for life because of you! For life!” you continued, releasing all the anger towards him that you had surpressed since the incident. You had the sudden urge to slap him right in the face, hard. The only thing preventing you from doing so was the fear of stopping to his level. It took all your energy to prevent yourself from doing so. 

Then you realized that maybe you should. He needed to be taught a lesson. Maybe he would feel some of the pain his actions inflicted on you. It’s about time he got a taste of his own medicine.

You threw your arm back and slapped the side of his face, hard and as fast as you could. When you did so, Keith’s eyes widened in surprise and his face was frozen in shock. You heard him wince in pain. You immediately turned away from Keith once more to look at the floor. 

“Your apology can’t fix any of that” you finished, your voice low. You got up and hurried out of the room, your throat burning as you took ragged breaths. 

Before you left, you glanced over your shoulder towards Keith. He had a big red handprint shaped mark on his cheek. You could tell from one look that he was completely and utterly broken. You felt your heart break as you glanced at him. You felt a surge of guilt well up, but you pushed it away. He deserved this for what he did. 

“I don’t blame you (y/n)” Keith croaked lowly as you left. 

When you ran out of the room and down the hallway, tears rolled down your face. You felt awful. Your stomach was twisted in knots, your heart was heavy, you had a pounding headache, and you still had a lump in your throat. 

 

You had acted against your number one moral: violence doesn’t solve anything. You had promised yourself that you would never go against it, but you just did. Your head pounded harder as your crying worsened. 

You had hurt Keith to the point that he cried! You made Keith Kogane, the guy that never cries, cry! You broke him, just like he broke you during the incident! You were just like him. When you were sure you were far enough from Keith, you let out a loud shriek from the pit in your stomach, releasing all your overwhelming feelings. Your anger at Keith and yourself. Your regret for breaking Keith. The pain that the incident caused you. You released it all in your scream. 

You ran back to your room and flopped on your bed, still feeling horrible. After an hour of sulking, you reluctantly decided you should go meet up with the others. They would get suspicious if you stayed in your room for much longer. You dried your tears, washed your face off, brushed your hair, and put it back in a low ponytail. You picked up all your tissues before heading out, wanting to get rid of all evidence from your crying session. 

You shuffled into the main room, where everyone else except Keith was. You immediately plastered a casual, yet serious expression on your face. You didn’t want the others to know about your argument with Keith, it was none of their business. Besides, you had a mission to focus on. 

Then Keith walked in the room, and all your other thoughts went away. You stole a glance at him and noticed that he still seemed upset, even though he was trying to hide it. He was staring at the floor and frowning. His jacket barely hid the purple bruise starting to appear on his cheek and his eyes were still glassy. You felt a small twinge of guilt once more, but you pushed that thought away. He deserved this for what he had done. 

“Um, what happened to your face?” Pidge asked him in a small voice. You began to feel nervous. Your heart rate picked up, you palms started to become sweaty, you stared at the floor, and Your face became warm. Was Keith going to expose you? 

“Training with the Gladiator”Keith responded curtly while keeping his eyes glued to the floor. 

You felt the weight release from your shoulders and you quietly sighed in relief. Your heart continued to race and your body froze in shock as you realized what just happened. Keith had chosen to keep it a secret, even after everything you did to him. Does this mean he actually cares? Was his apology actually sincere? 

“We’ll be arriving at the Balmera soon” Allura said in a serious tone, jerking your attention away from Keith and towards the mission ahead. “Liberating these Balmerans from Zarkon’s grasp won’t be easy.” 

“So what’s the plan?” Lance said, taking a playful tone. “We go in there and just pow-pow-pow and free the prisoners?” He made laser guns with his fingers, emphasizing the “pow”. 

You felt a small smile creep to your face and you chuckled lightly. Lance was so childish, but you were glad he was as his antics made you feel much better. Who knew that Lance the player would cheer you up someday? 

“What was that noise?” you teased him in response, your playful voice matching his. 

“Laser guns” Lance responded smugly, putting a hand on his hip. 

“No Lance, I think you mean pew!, pew!, pew!”Hunk corrected him, making his own laser guns. He moved both of his arms up and imitated the humming of a cannon being powered up. “Pew!” 

“That sounds more like fireworks“ Lance retorted, adding fuel to the fire. 

“Technically, they are more like, Bachoo!, bachoo!, bachoo!” Pidge added on confidently, making her own laser guns while adjusting her glasses. 

“Okay, enough with the bad sound effects” Shiro scolded. Then his voice became playful as he made his own finger guns. “Besides, it’s more like blam! blam! blam!” Your smile grew even wider, you were so happy that you were completely forgetting your feelings from before. Then, you glanced at Keith once more, and all those feelings came back. 

Keith wasn’t acting normal. Instead of joining in and snapping some remarks as usual, he was still staring at the floor, holding his dropping hand by the elbow. You wondered why it has hurting you so much to see him this way. You tried to forget about what you did to him, but his frowning face made it practically impossible.

You were the silver paladin for crying out loud! You were supposed to have a good conscience and listen to it! You were supposed to do the right thing! 

Didn’t you do the right thing though? You gave Keith exactly what he deserved for what he did. 

“Ugh!” you sighed loudly in annoyance. This was just making your headache worse. Stupid conscience, there was no way you were going to let Keith escape the consequences of his actions. Besides, now he will definitely know to not make that same mistake twice. 

“Are you really that mad over laser guns (Y/n)?” Pidge asked you raising an eyebrow. “You seemed to be just fine with it a minute ago.”

“Its not about that!” You replied sharply, taking a defensive tone. You rummaged through your brain for a reason so that they wouldn’t get suspicious. “It’s just that we have a mission to focus on and were a bit off topic.” you replied, feigning calmness while keeping your eyes on the floor. 

“Right, the mission!” Hunk responded, excited. Then, his tone became more worried as he continued. “We can’t just shoot everywhere. this balmera, it’s like alive, and from what we’ve seen, it doesn’t look very good” You glanced at a chart on the big holographic screen. You saw a blue blob moving slowly on the screen. It looked like the form of a winter storm on the weather forecast, but much bigger. 

“Yes, it’s an atrocity what the Galra have been doing to this grand beast” Coran remarked, a bit angry. “Stealing it’s crystals, it’s very life source without ever performing the energy rejuvenation ceremonies to heal it!”

You tried to focus on your mission ahead, but you couldn’t. You were too mentally exhausted from your argument with Keith to think straight. You couldn’t get your mind off of him. It was like his broken expression was branded in your brain. His hoarse, croaking voice was still ringing in your ears.   
You zoned out while everyone else was talking about the mission. Well, everyone but Keith that is.

“(Y/n)? Are you paying attention?” Coran asked you, jerking your attention back towards the mission

“Y-yes” you responded meekly, started to feel embarrassed as you noticed everyone was staring at you. 

“Then what were we talking about?” Pidge asked you, her voice slightly irritated. 

“You we’re talking about drawing the Galra out to the surface to attack them there and some sort of pods to track the balmerans and Galra”. You responded, trying to sound confident. 

“Yep, that’s basically the plan so far” Shiro responded calmly. You sighed in relief. “Here’s the rest. (y/n) and I will take out the power generator. Keith, Lance, Hunk, you take out the big mining rigs on the surface.”

 

Now in your armor, You flew out of the castle in your lion, towards the balmera. You joined the v shaped formation right behind Shiro. You barely had enough time to take in the rocky, desert landscape and the yellow-orange ombre sky before thousands of purple lasers flew your way. They came from a huge grey and purple station, with smaller cannons surrounding a much larger, pinwheel shaped cannon. The other beams seemed puny, but the beams from the big one were almost as big as your lion! 

You may have had trouble concentrating before, but now all of your focus was on your mission. It had to be. If you thought about Keith for only one second, you could get hit. Because you couldn’t see him, it was much easier to keep your thoughts off of him. 

“Alright this is it, Get your heads in the game” Shiro instructed, using his leader voice. “Remember, the balmera is a living creature. Make sure you pinpoint the Galra installations and not it’s surface.”

You followed Shiro to the humming generator. You cringed as you saw the purple arcs of electricity, just the other day they were hitting you. It looked like some sort of power plant, with glowing purple crystals as energy sources lining both sides. 

“So how are we going to take this thing down?” you asked him, trying to keep your voice calm. 

“I’m seeing something appear on my screen, it says something about a jaw blade” Shiro replied. 

“Same here” you responded, viewing the gleaming silver blade from your holographic screen. “It should work, it worked fine for Keith when he used it against Rolo the other day.” 

 

“Ok, let’s do this! I’ll take one side, you take the other” Shiro instructed. And with that, you pressed the button for it on your screen. A glowing silver bar appeared at your lions mouth. The glow receded, revealing a large dark grey blade with platinum details. 

You slowed your boosters so your blade was at the level of the crystals. You heard a low mechanical hiss as you charged forwards, flashes of purple racing past you from your screen. You didn’t stop to look behind you or below until you got to the end. 

When you reached the end, you glanced at your work. Those crystals stood no chance against your blade, they all had smooth orange cuts through their surface. 

Smoke and flame filled the air around you as the generator exploded around you. You felt a small smile come to your your face, you didn’t expect your first mission to be this successful. 

When you went back to the others, a huge firey beam caught your eye. It came from the red lion’s mouth and it melted a hole through the pinwheels base. 

“Nice Keith!” Shiro exclaimed. “Did you just get that?” 

“Yeah” Keith responded. You felt yourself freeze as you heard his voice. It was still broken, disappointed, and overwhelmingly upset. You felt another wave of shame, you caused him to feel that way. 

‘Keep it together y/n!’ you thought to yourself. You couldn’t let Keith get the best of you. Who knows, he could acting glum just to manipulate you into forgiving him. Besides, he had caused you to feel the same way, if not worse, during the incident. You may have slapped him in the face, but that was nothing compared to what Keith did to James. Just thinking about it made you want to throw up. 

The pinwheel started to topple over, but Lance froze it in place just in time. 

“Aw snap, these ice rays are super cool, just like me!” Lance remarked. You rolled your eyes in response, but you couldn’t stop the small smile that came to your face. 

“Great job team” Shiro complemented, making you feel even better. Shiro flew over to the top of the frozen pinwheel, and the rest of you followed him. You saw nothing but busted machinery and a hole ridden, rocky, orange surface for miles on end. Where were the troops? Your happiness started to drain away and it was replaced by an uneasy feeling in your stomach. Something was up. 

“Where are all the troops?” You asked, your voice anxious. “They aren’t coming to the surface!”

“Yeah, I remember seeing a lot of Galra down in those mines” Hunk added on. You wondered if they were still in the mines, did something happen down there that was more distracting them you destroying their power? 

“We’ve located a hangar full of Galra fighters just below the surface!” Alluras nervous voice rang through your helmet, jostling you out of your thoughts. “Someone has to take those out before they are able to launch!” 

“They’re luring us down, but we have no other choice” Shiro concluded his voice grave. “Keith, Lance, (Y/n), you guys hit the hangar. Hunk, head to the prison to rescue Shay and the other balmerans. Pidge and I will continue to search for the troops.” 

You felt your heart start to race and your breathing became unsteady. After your argument with Keith earlier, you would rather listen to Lances siren noise on repeat than work with him. It would be extremely awkward. Besides, you might say or do something that you’ll regret in the future, your emotions were still a mess. 

“Umm Shiro, don’t you think Hunk would need sone support?” you pleaded, trying to switch out of your group. “We could be facing swarms of troops at any time”

“Keith and Lance will need more support, and not just for the mission” Shiro replied, his voice firm. You felt your heart sink at his tone, there was no way you were getting out of this one. Then, his voice became a bit playful. “You know how they bicker.”

Even though you appreciated the effort, no amount of joking could get you to feel comfortable around Keith. You parked your lion in an inconspicuous spot by the cave, and then headed out in your sliver speeder. 

After an enternity of awkward silence, the three of you arrived at the hangar. You parked your speeder next to Lance’s, and you peered inside. There were at least one hundred stationed Galra fighters or jets in front of you, illuminated by purple crystals. 

“The entire hangar is only being guarded by a few sentries” Keith observered, keeping his voice serious. He then drew out his bayard and started to charge towards them. Your eyes grew wide, you didn’t expect that your argument would also effect his common sense. But then again, it probably wasn’t you. Keith has had his common sense messed up for a while now that that you thought about it. It’s the only valid explanation for certain events like that incident. 

“Whoa, whoa, cool your jets Keith!” Lance scolded him, pulling him backwards roughly by the jetpack, causing him to fall back on a rock. You cringed, Keith was just getting beat up today. He definitely deserved it since he did worse to James, but you didn’t like seeing Keith get hurt anymore than you liked seeing James get tortured. 

“Don’t you remember all that stuff about the balmera being a sensitive animal?” Lance continued to scold Keith. 

“Oh, right” Keith responded in a low voice. You clenched your fists until you’re palms began to sting, trying to not let his broken voice effect you.

“Are you ok Keith?” Lance asked, getting in Keith’s face, his voice skeptical yet accusing. You seem to be a bit distracted today.” Your eyes grew wide as you glanced towards Keith and your heart started to race even more. 

“I’m fine, just tired from training” Keith replied, his voice monotone. 

“(Y/n), you need to help me make sure Keith doesn’t overwork himself” Lance said, turning to face you, his voice smug. 

Your blood started to boil, you crossed your arms, and you fixed a steely glare on Lance. 

“Ha ha very funny” you responded coldly, your voice dripping with sarcasm. Usually you could stand and even enjoy some of Lance’s jokes, but he was just making things worse. He raised a eyebrow at you.

“You and Keith are acting pretty strange today. Did something happen?” Lance responded, his voice accusing. 

“Yes, you stook your nose in our business” Keith responded in a venemous tone while glaring at Lance. Even though you were fuming at Lance, you felt yourself relax a bit as some of your surpressed guilt fade away. Keith seemed to be turning back to normal, and you were glad about that.

 

“Oh? our business now huh?” Lance teased, his voice smug. 

That was it! You had enough of Lance’s teasing of you and Keith. Did he have any idea what your past wit him was? Is he aware of your dark past with Keith that would make what he’s suggesting so wrong on so many levels? Did he know of the incident that even you, the silver paladin, chose to not forgive? 

“Lance McClain, cut that out right now!” you scolded, your voice as low and as venemous as you could make it. If looks could kill, he would definitely be dead by now as both you and Keith glared at him.

“Fine, fine” Lance responded, putting his hands up to surrender. You released you glare and glanced towards Keith, who was still glaring at Lance. 

 

“Anyways Keith, we can’t just blow things up like a psycho” he began to scold him, changing the topic back to the mission at hand. 

“You got a better idea?” Keith snapped back.  
“I do” Lance replied, his voice smug. “We could sneak into the control room to shut down the bay doors. That’ll trap the ships in.” 

“That-“ Keith began to fire back, but then his voice became calmer. “That’s actually a better idea.” You then devised your plan.

 

You, Keith, and Lance silently climbed up the pipes on the side of the control room. Once you got to the top, you activated your bayard, crouched low to the surface, and cut a large hole through it. 

A loud clang of metal on metal rang echoed off the walls of the massive cave. You winced in response, maybes that wasn’t the best idea. Now more sentries might come your way! You shook off your worry, realizing you had a mission to focus on. 

Lance and Keith jumped through the hole, you followed seconds later. You winced as the impact of the fall hit your knees, but you chose to ignore it. 

Lance was crouching at the holographic screen and Keith was by the window, standing guard. You walked towards Lance and crouched down besides him. He was pressing random buttons on the surface. 

“Uh, what are you doing?” You asked him, raising an eyebrow. It looked like he was trying to guess the passcode for the system, but you didn’t think that was a smart idea. “Are you trying to set off an alarm?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing here, it’s all Galra gibberish” Lance whined in response. 

“Let me see” Keith interjected as he walked over to the screen and crouched down between the two of you. You froze as you realized he was about only an inch away from you, the three of you were cramped together by the screen. You were so close that you could hear his somewhat unsteady breathing. Your heart started racing and your felt your palms grow sweaty in your gloves. 

After examining the screen for a bit, he placed his hand on a circular icon in the center of the screen. You facepalmed in response, that was probably some sort of identity sensor, he could be setting off an alarm!

To your surprise, you started to hear a low mechanical hum as the bay doors closed. You couldn’t believe it, did that actually work?

“Woah, how did you do that?” Lance asked Keith, disbelief in his voice. 

“I just put my hand on the handprint” Keith responded, a bit confused. 

You remained silent as you were lost in thought. How was Keith able to do that? Was it because of his violent nature, which is similar to the Galra’s? That thought seemed crazy when it first popped up in your mind, but it started to make more sense the more you thought about it. The Galra were probably smart enough to make technology that responds according to someone’s personality, and they were the only alien race with a violent nature that you had come across. 

“Paladins, you there?” Alluras serious voice rang from your helmet. “The Galra troops are moving down the tunnels. it looks like they are going down toward the center.” 

“They must be heading to the core of the balmera. That’s where they are holding Shay” Hunk responded, his voice nervous. 

 

“There drawing us into an ambush, but we don’t have a choice if we want to save Shay” Shiro state’s, his voice firm. “We need to follow. Lance, (Y/n), Keith, get to the core. I have a feeling we’re going to need everyone for this firefight.” 

You, Lance, and Keith navigated the rocky, purple lit tunnels one more in akward silence. You started out in your speeders, but now the tunnels were too narrow for that. You were now walking on foot to the core of the balmera. 

Usually you were with silence, you had gotten used to it after the people you talked to were cut off by the incident. However, the silence you were experiencing currently was almost eerie in nature. Usually you and Keith couldn’t last a minute without arguing or teasing since you were rivals, but now both of you were deadly quiet. 

Are you and Keith still rivals anyways? If you asked yourself that question yesterday, your would know, without a doubt that he was your rival. You couldn’t last an hour together without exchanging firey comebacks at least once. You raced, taunted, and teased each other every chance you got to do so. All the while, you both kept your guard up around each other. 

Ever since your argument, thing have definitely changed. The two of you had not exchanged firey comebacks since. Sure you yelled at him during the argument, but he didn’t yell back. He hadn’t tried to race, taunt, or tease you, even though he had multiple opportunities. The biggest change of all was Keith dropping his guard. In all the years that you’ve known him for, you had never seen him so broken, open, and vulnerable. You thought it was impossible for Keith to cry or show emotion, until now. 

So what are you and Keith now? 

You were interrupted from your thoughts by purple laser beams shooting your way. As if on instinct, you ran to the sides of the tunnel, where you were out of their reach. Bright yellow-orange light filled the air as the shooting came in contact with the Balmeran wall, creating flickering fireballs. When you stood there to catch your breath, you released that your heart was pounding and your breathing was picking up speed

 

Keith was right next to you on the wall with Lance on the opposite side. You thought it was strange how Keith had chosen to be close to your recently, even after you hurt him. However, this was no time to let your mind wander, so you tried to focus on your mission. Then, you heard a low, deep rumbling noise fill the tunnel, alerting you of the balmera’s pain. 

“Their shooting is hurting the balmera, we have to do something!” You declared, your voice serious. 

“Well, we can’t just shoot back, It’ll make it worse!” Lance responded, irritated about the shooting.

The floor beneath your feet and the wall that you were laying against started to tremble, causing you to yelp and almost trip over. You caught yourself on a protruding stone in the wall just in time. You saw small pebbles rain from the ceiling, but you were unaffected thanks to your helmet.

You glanced towards Lance, who was making gestures with his hands and face while grunting. It was a bit hard to follow, all you understood of it was that you and Keith had to climb up the ladder behind you. From there you would have to stay hidden behin the Galra until Lance did something. You nodded in response to his message, you figured you would figure out the rest when the time came for it.

 

You weren’t so sure about Keith though, you didn’t think he understood gestures as he was very antisocial. You glanced towards him and realized you were right. Keith was shrugging at Lance, but then he turned around and saw the ladder. He gave Lance a quick thumbs up and asended up the ladder. After you waited a second or you you followed him, keeping your distance because it still felt awkward around him. 

You and Keith quietly creeped through the upper tunnel, which curved around and sloped downwards, putting you right behind the sentries. You stepped as lightly as you could, not wanting to alert the Galra of your presence. When you found yourself behind the sentries, you stood completely still until Lance started waving his arms around in front of them. He then hid behind his shield as they shot at him. You realized that you were probably supposed to attack the sentries with your bayard while Lance had true attention, so that’s what you did. You usually didn’t believe in violence, but these were just machines.

You activated your bayard, bathing the area around you in a silverly glow. You held it at your side horizontally and you charged at them full speed. You slashed straight through the first ones metal waist, the metal becoming red hot and melting like butter. Small blue arcs of electricity danced across the sentry before it exploded in a plume of fire. You then repeated your horizontal slashes on the others. 

While you attacked them, you watched Keith out if the corner of your eye. His slashes weren’t as precise as yours and he seemed to rely more on arm strength than speed. His movements were definitely more dramatic than yours. He jumped, pounced, and ended up throwing his bayard at the last one. His fighting skills were definitely remarkable, they were one of the only things about him that has stayed the same since the argument. 

You smilied slightly as you realized all the sentries were defeated. Lance gave you a big grin and thumbs up. Even Keith seemed less upset than before. The three of you continued to walk in the hallway in silence, but this time the awkwardness was overcome with the joys of your recent victory. 

 

You were glad that the mission was successful, especially since you and Keith were able to work as a team despite your awkwardness. 

Whenever you and Keith could work together as a team, it gave you hope for the future. Even though that future couldn’t happen in your wildest dreams, it was still a nice thought. Without the incident and his stone cold heart, Keith could be a great person and possibly a friend. 

 

Even though you wished to continue fantasizing about a nicer version of Keith, you soon stopped yourself. You shouldn’t be thinking about it, especially now that you rejected his apology. You were farther from being Keith’s friend more than ever before. Plus, you had a mission to focus on. 

After a few more minutes of walking, you saw a faint yellow light fill the hall. It was coming from a doorway. It grew brighter the more you walked towards it. This must be the core Shiro was talking about!

As soon as you glanced through the doorway, your attention was fixed on the mystical pineapple shaped structure in the middle. It was bright yellow with beehive like openings which revealed a glowing blue middle. As you examined the rest of the area, you realized it was a ginormous cave. It had rocky bumps on the tall ceiling and curved pillars connecting the floor to it. All the rock formations were covered with glowing blue veins. After further inspection, you noticed it had the layout of a room with doors lining the sides as exits. 

You walked through the glowing purple doorway. Lance and Keith came in a few seconds later as you ran off at the sight of the light. 

As soon as you stepped foot in the core, you saw Hunk cradling a rock person bridal style. You assumed it was Shay. She had pale tain skin, glowing yellow, eyes, and brown bumps for hair. She wore a ragged green tunic that showed off her muscular arms. Hunk soon set her down and Shiro came charging into the area.

“Where are the Galra?” Shiro called, a bit anxious. “If this is an ambush, they should be here waiting for us!”

As soon as Pidge walked into the room, all doors slammed shut behind you with a loud clang that echoed throughout the cave. 

All of your exits were closed. You felt your body freeze up and your muscles grew tight. Your chest tightened and you felt your heart start to race. 

Crap, you were trapped. You tried to take deep breaths to calm yourself down, but you were too mentally tired to chase away the panic you were starting to feel. Your mind was racing as you wondered how you were getting out of this one. You definitely couldn’t use voltron as you left your lions outside. Then you got an Idea: maybe your bayard could help. It was worth a try, and you didn’t see any other way out. 

You went back over to the door and drew out your bayard. A faint slivery glow filled the space around it. You raised it up to your chest and lunged at the door. The next thing you knew, you were knocked to the floor. Your head started to throb faintly as your headache from before was coming back. 

You groaned as you sat back up, holding you head in your hands. 

“You ok (y/n)?” Hunk asked you, his voice gentle. 

“I’m fine-“ you responded lowly, staring at the floor.

 

“You sure about that?” Lance interrupted, his tone skeptical. 

“Yeah, you usually have enough sense to not try to slice open a highly technologically advanced door!” Pidge added on in the same tone. Your eyes narrowed as you started to get annoyed with them. You didn’t want to talk about your feelings. 

“Guys, Leave her alone” Keith scolded, his low voice taking a slightly venemous tone. “She obviously doesn’t want to talk about it”. 

Your body froze in shock and your eyes grew wide. Why the heck was Keith standing up for you after your argument this morning? You glanced towards him. His arms were crossed and he was glaring at Pidge and Lance. What he just did rendered you speechless, you didn’t know what to say. Should you thank him? You immediately erased that thought, remembering that you shouldn’t be friendly to him after what he’s done. 

“Keith’s right” Shiro spoke up, his tone serious. “Besides, we have a mission to focus on.”

Shiro was right about one thing: you should be focusing on your mission. You cleared your mind, remembering that you had to focus on your mission if you were going to free this planet.

“About your mission, The Galra gained knowledge that you would return to the balmera” Shay said, her voice soft.

“How?” Pidge asked.

“I know not” Shay continued. You sensed a bit of desperation in her voice. “All I know is that they sent this trap just for you” her voice the became ashamed. “I was the bait” Your heart dropped even further as you recognized how she was feeling. You had felt the same guilt almost all day so you didn’t want shay to suffer in the same way. 

“Shay, this isn’t your fault” you told her, your voice gentle. 

“Yeah, some other balmeran ratted you out and caused your capture” Hunk added on in the same tone. Then his tone became venemous. “Wasn’t his name Rax or something?” Shay nodded in response. 

“Rolo and his group are to blame as well.” you reasoned, your tone angry. You had hope for them, but unfortunately you were wrong. “They are the only ones that were informed about our mission to the balmera, so they must have told.” 

“Right” Shiro concluded before switching the topic. “Anyways, We have to figure out how to get out of here.” 

“Maybe Allura can help us!” Lance interjected. “Hey Allura, could you get us out of here” he called to her from his helmet. 

“We’re quite occupied at the moment” She replied in a strained voice. “Were completely surrounded by Galra ships and are taking heavy fire! Paladins, you need to get out of there as soon as you can!”

You felt your mind become a bundle of nerves once more, but you immediately started to take deep breaths to calm yourself down. You couldn’t help Allura or the balmerans by worrying. 

“This, it it, Were going to die in here!” Lance complained, his voice dramatic. “I can say bye-bye to that parade!” His panicking voice was making it harder for you to stay calm, especially there seemed to be no way out. However, You still managed to roll your eyes in response to Lance’s pettiness. A parade should be the least of your worries. 

“Get it together Lance” Shiro scolded him. “Allura, we’ll be there as soon as we can.” You wondered how Shiro could stay so confident despite your current situation. 

“Perhaps my people can help us get out” Shay piped up, her voice now hopeful. You eased up when you heard her voice, you were glad she was feeling better. You also felt a surge of hope, maybe you could get out of here after all. She went over to the pineapple structure in the middle and placed her hand on it. Her handprint started to glow a bright orange. “This is how we communicate. The balmera senses our vibrations and sends a message to those in the tunnels.” 

“Are you sure that someone is going to hear your hand from all the way down here?”Pidge asked with a skeptical tone. She didn’t seem so sure about it, but Shay did. 

“The balmera will deliver the message” She replied, calmly yet firmly. 

“The lions are in danger!” Alluras frantic voice rang from your helmet. “You must get to them. Paladins, do you copy? There is a battle cruiser locked onto us. If it fires it’d job cannon, I don’t think we can survive” You felt some of your hope fade away as you worried about the lion’s and the Alteans, but you tried to remain positive. Shay seemed to know a way out of here, and her hand was definitely doing something as you heard low moans echo through the caves walls.

Then, they suddenly became louder and louder. You felt the room start to vibrate. You felt a small smile creep up your face as the rocks around the doors grew, causing the doors to disintegrate before you. 

Three Balmerans who looked nearly identical to Shay were on the other side of the new hole in the wall. You felt yourself start to relax as you realized you had a way out, but you reminded yourself you weren’t out of the woods yet. You still had to get to your lions and save the castle. 

“Rax!” Shay squealed in delight as she ran forwards and hugged him. You felt your heart slightly melt as you saw the joy on their faces, but you reminded yourself to not get too distracted. 

“We must make haste” another balmeran commanded as he gestured for everyone to follow him. “We know a shortcut through the tunnels.” 

“Allura, We are in our way up” Shiro notified the castle as you sprinted out of the tunnels, following the Balmerans. Your heart was racing as you ran towards your speeder and then to your lion. You didn’t let yourself take a breather until your speeder ascended into your lion and you were back in the pilot’s seat once more. 

“Guys, did everyone get to their lions on time?” Shiro called. 

“Come on Shiro, who do you think you’re dealing with?” Lance teased as the six of you flew out of the tunnels and towards the sky. “A bunch of armatureurs?” Then, You saw the blue lion run into a busted Galra tower head first and trip over, causing you to facepalm. Lance immediately brushed it off and got back up to join the formation.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Shiro taunted back. You felt a small smirk spread across your face, Shiro just roasted Lance big time. 

“No” Lance admitted, his voice bashful. 

“Lets go!” Shiro chanted as the six of you approached the swarms of fighters. 

You zigzagged as you dodged the purple laser beams. Then you pushed one of your handles completely forward, causing a steady stream of laser beams to emit from your lion’s mouth. All the ships in front of you exploded into fireballs and you flew full speed ahead. As more and more ships came, you also used your jaw blade on them. The yellow atmosphere around you was filled with large plumes of fire and smoke as well as blue and purple laser beams. The many explosions of fighters sounded like fireworks. 

“Paladins, I need you immediately!” Alluras desperate voice rang through your helmet. “Five more ticks and were finished!”

“Ok team, let’s form voltron” Shiro commanded. You once again cleared your mind of all thoughts and focused on voltron. You closed your eyes and imagined the six of you working together as one, no barriers between you. You had some difficulty envisioning yourself working with Keith, but you tried to forget your argument and the incident for a second. You remembered those times when the two of you worked well together, such as when you took Rolo’s group down. Even after the argument today, both of you made a great team against the sentries. 

When you opened your eyes, the button for forming voltron appeared on your holographic screen. You immediately pressed it and voltron started to take shape.

Your cockpit slid down, making room for the black lion. your felt your balance shift as the legs of your lion contorted to form the skeleton of voltron, which the other four slid on. You felt a pulse of energy run through your body, giving you a boost of energy. 

 

As voltron, you slid through the yellow-green atmosphere of the balmera effortlessly. Voltron was still at full power when you saw the ginormous grey bottom of the battle cruiser. It was shooting a continuous stream of firey purple at the puny castle of lions. The castle seemed to only have a sheid in the front, which seemed to be barely deflecting the beam. 

You reminded yourself that voltron was the most powerful thing in the universe to prevent yourself from panicking as you watched the castle tremble. 

“Ok, we’re going to lift this thing up to get the beam away from the castle” Shiro instructed. 

You diverted 50% of the power from the legs so tha the arms would have more power. You felt a very slight pressure pushing straight down on you as the others raised the ship, all six of you screaming in unison. You a low mechanical “whir” as the beam powered down. You then flew away from the ship so you could prepare for an attack. 

Then out of nowhere, a huge blue beam of light charged through the sky and struck the battle cruiser. When you pulled up the rearview camera, a smile came to your face. The castle of lions was still up and running, plus it was the source of the laser beam!   
There was a huge flash of blue light as the beam pierced through the ship. Then it the whole area was incased in a gigantic purple fireball, causing all the surrounding fighters to explode like fireworks. Then the sky turned orange as all the Galra tech exploded around you.

You felt your smile widen into a proud grin. You had completed the mission successfully, and you made it seem very easy. All of these balmerans were free now, and this was your easiest battle yet! You experienced no issues, besides dealing with Keith and Lance plus getting trapped for a bit. 

After the eight of you celebrated your victory, you came back to the Balmeras surface. You expected there was more work to be done on the Balmera before you left the planet, but you figured it would be a peice of cake. 

“I guess that mission is accomplished” Keith acknowledged. When you heard him your smile fell from your face. You could tell by his voice that he was still upset, and you felt yet another pang of guilt. Keith was still broken, and it was all because of you. 

“Huh? There is an unknown object incoming! It’s going to crash into the surface of the balmera!” You heard Coran scream through your helmet. All your thoughts about Keith faded away. Your eyes widened and your heart started pounding faster as a fireball streaked through the sky. You should have known that the mission was too easy.

“What the heck is that?” Hunk asked after the smoke cleared. After one glance at the object, you were filled with dread. 

“Galra” you answered gravely as you kept your eyes straight ahead. Your palms became sweaty and you felt yourself become warm as your mind started racing. 

“Oh no” Lance gasped.


	13. Chapter 13

Your mission on the balmera was going great until a huge grey object cake hurdling through the sky and crashed into the planet’s surface. The six of you weres still combined into voltron and you were facing said object, your mind a bundle of neves.

“Please don’t tell me there’s a giant monster in there!” Hunk exclaimed. You rolled your eyes in response. Even though Hunk couldn’t help it, he was just making you more nervous. The last time you fought a monster from the Galra, it wasn’t a piece of cake. 

“There probably is Hunk” you stated, your voice unsteady. “Or worse”

“If it’s the same kind of monster that attacked us on Arus, we’ll be able to beat it” Pidge added on. Voltron’s shield and sword appeared, along with their status on your screen. 

“Hold your ground!“ Shiro commanded. Then you heard a huge thud as a huge monster emerged from the object. Unlike the previous one, it seemed to be all technology with red, black, cream, grey, and green details. It’s head and arms seemed to resemble a birds, and it had slender legs and torso. It had glowing green spots for eyes as well as some more spots on the chest and back. You heard a low mechanical hum as it powered on and shot a green laser beam which hit voltron’s shield. 

Your seat and controls started to tremble violently as the pressure from the beam pushed you backwards. Your eyes widened in fear you saw the beam drain power from the sheild. This monster was definitely more powerful than the last one. 

“This definitely isn’t the same monster, if seems more powerful” you remarked, your voice strained. As voltron, you flew upwards and away from the monster as it continued to chase you and shoot at you. 

“We need to draw its fire away from the balmera’s surface” Shiro commanded as you dodged beam after beam. Then, voltron turned around and lunged at the monster. Keith swiped the sword at it, but it ducked. It twisted its laser eyes your way and shot you before you had a chance to evade. 

The laser beam knocked voltron to the floor, causing you to wince in pain and jump out of your seat from the impact. Seconds later, your seat jolted you as voltron got back up in the air once more. You grimaced as you glanced at the power levels, you had suffered significant damage and the battle had just begun. 

“We can’t hold out!” Lance remarked as the shield took another massive hit. You cringed as you realized he was right. You wanted to stay positive abou the situation, but you were starting to lose hope. You couldn’t defeat the monster if you had to spend all your time dodging it. 

“Yep, and I feel my lion growing weak” Pidge added on, causing you to feel worse. 

“Yeah, your lion is at 50% Pidge” you responded lowly. “And the shield only has about 20%”

“Wait, how do you know that?” Lance exclaimed. You facepalmed as you realized you had never told the others about that feature. 

“All the power levels are on my screen” you explained. “I can start diverting power to the shield, but it will significantly weaken our boosters, which we need as well.” Even though you tried to explain calmly, Lance was still shouting. 

“Wait, you can do that?” he yelled, causing you to roll your eyes. He shouldn’t be making such a big deal out of it when you had a a mission to focus on. 

“Yes and I have been doing so” you responded plainly. “Anyways, we need to focus on the monster” Voltron continued to spin in circles as you were dodging the laser beams. You started to preform a sharp left turn, but Lance wasn’t moving his lion in sync with the movement and there was a massive boulder ahead of him. 

“Lance watch your footing!” you exclaimed, but it was too late. Voltron fell face first on the ground, causing you to wince in pain as you were jerked roughly in your seat. As you repositioned yourself in your seat and checked the power levels, you begun to feel irritated with Lance. Voltron lost 5 percent of its overall power because of his mistake. You couldn’t afford such mistakes when you needed that power to attack and defend yourself against the monster. you figured that you could have a higher chance of defeating the monster if you weren’t weighed down by the mistakes of the others. 

“We need to split up” you advised, irritation in your voice. You could’ve been kinder to Lance about his mistake, but you were too emotionally drained to put that effort in. 

“That sounds like a good plan (Y/n)” Shiro replied, his tone serious. You pressed the button for separating on your screen and you immediately shut your eyes as a huge flash of light was visible on all your screens. When you opened your eyes once more, voltron was disbanded you were flying behind Shiro. “Everyone, evasive maneuvers. It can’t shoot all of us at once”

You flew away from Shiro and began to zigzag through the air. You groaned as the monster lifted its giant arms up towards the six of you and shot tons of laser beams your way. It could shoot all of you at once after all. You swerved around all the beams. You tried to shoot it a couple of times, but a green laser beam from it prevented you each time. This monster was really getting on your nerves, it outsmarted all of your plans. How could you defeat this thing? 

“Ok, it can do that too” Shiro remarked, irritation seeping into his calm voice. Then, the castle of lions dashed to the front of the monster, causing the monster to aim its laser arms at the castle’s particle barrier instead of you. Now that it was distracted, you flew right behind it and you pulled your jaw blade out.  
As you were about to swipe the monster’s head, it rotated its head around and shot you. You winced in pain as the shot caused small arcs of electricity to race though your lion. You tried to brush it off and reach for your controls once more, but they weren’t responding. Your eyes widened in fear and you felt yourself begin to tremble as you saw the beast charge up a cannon on its eyes, a cannon that was pointed straight towards you. 

The next thing you knew, a beam of fire was shot at the monster’s head, preventing it from shooting you. Your eyes widened, a shiver ran down your spine, and your heart started racing as you realized the source of the beam: Keith. Why the heck would he be defending you after you broke him earlier? Even though you were dumbfounded by his actions, you knew this was no time to be distracted. Your lion’s controls became operational once more and you shot laser beams at the beast just as it was about to fire back at Keith. You then continued to dodge the laser beams being shot at you. 

“We need to find this things blind spot” Shiro instructed. 

“I don’t think this thing has a blind spot” Pidge replied angrily. “It has a thousand eyes!” 

“Laser eyes, laser eyes!” Hunk exclaimed as he narrowly evaded laser beams. 

“What do we do?” Lance shouted desperately. “Fighting this thing is like fighting an entire fleet at once!”

“I think we have to aim for those laser eyes and take them out.” Pidge reasoned. She started to shoot at the laser eyes, but as she did so they shot back at her. She barely doged its attacks, and the laser eyes weren’t damaged at all. 

Then more laser beams filled the sky as the castle stared shooting at the monster. 

“Princess, pull back, get out of its range now!” Shiro warned as the beast started charging up its eye cannon. 

“We will not abandon you” Allura exclaimed, determination in her voice. Even though you appreciated the effort, you didn’t want her, Coran, and the castle to get damaged. 

“You’re not abandoning us, we’re about to pull back anyways” Shiro replied. 

“We are?” Hunk replied, confused. 

“I don’t think we can’t hold out” Shiro admitted in a low voice. “(Y/n), how are those power levels?“

“I can’t check right now, it’s only a feature when we form voltron” you replied lowly. “That feature can’t help us now anyways, I can’t transport power if voltron isn’t formed.”

 

“Ok then” Shiro replied in the same tone. His tone became more monotone as he continued. “Lions, get to the mine shafts. It’s the only place the monster can’t get us.” 

“Roger that” you replied as you started to head inside of a large tunnel along with everybody else. 

“Heading into orbit” Allura added on as the castle got outside of the monster’s reach once more. 

As soon as you got in the tunnel and got out of your lion, everyone was approached by a small group of balmerans. You recognized Shay from earlier as well as Rax, who were both at the front. 

“What’s happening?” Rax asked the six of you, his voice serious. 

“There’s a monster up there that Zarkon sent to destroy us” Shiro replied, trying to sound calm.

“A monster?” Shay gasped, her yellow eyes growing wide. “Will Zarkon’s savagery ever cease? Perhaps our people were never meant to be free.” You felt your teeth clench in anger as you heard her somber tone. Zarkon caused her to feel this way! She had done nothing wrong, she didn’t deserve how Zarkon had treated her. You felt a surge of determination well up inside of you, you had to to something about this! You had to do something to help Shay feel better and you have to stop Zarkon from making others feel this way. 

 

“Shay, don’t give up” Hunk consoled her. “Zarkon’s power grows with every planet he conquers but he’s weakened by every being that fights back” 

“Fight back against a monster like that, but how?” Shay continued, still confused. You realized that the had a point, you didn’t know how you were going to defeat the monster either. You had to spend all your time and energy to defend yourself from it during battle, you had no chances to land a hit. Plus, you still suffered significant damage while dealing with the monster. 

Even though it seemed like you had no reason for hope, you knew you had to find one. You had to lift up the spirits of the balmeran’s, as well as yours, if you were going to defeat the monster. 

“I don’t know how, but we can beat it” Hunk replied, feigning confidence. “Tell her keith!” 

“Can we?” Keith mumbled, his voice low and unsteady. His voice felt like a punch to the stomach, but you knew you had to ingnore that pain if you were going to lift everyone’s spirits. 

“I know it seems like we can’t right now, but we will be able to” you said, trying your best to sound confident. You remembered something important the Alteans had told you when you were rounding up voltron and you figured it could be the reason you were searching for. “We have voltron on our side-the most powerful weapon in the universe.” You saw that the rest of your team and the balmerans were starting to calm down. You took a deep breath, relieved that you were able to help them. 

Now that everyone was feeling better, you turned your attention towards Keith. Despite what you just said, he appeared distressed. Honestly, you weren’t that surprised, you did quite a number on him earlier. He still had a purple bruise on his face from your hand. You felt a twinge of remorse as you remembered your past actions during that argument. Even though Keith definitely deserved the rejection, you could’ve been nicer about it. You could’ve gotten your point across without stopping to his level. 

 

“(Y/n)’s right” Shiro declared, jostling you out of your thoughts. “This is our first major mission and we’re not going to fail. We just need time to to come up with the plan.” 

Then, you fell against the wall of the tunnel as the floor started to violently shake below you. You heard a low moan rattle through the tunnel as the shaking intensified. You grabbed onto a nearby ledge to keep your balance, wincing as you got back up. Small cracks started to appear on the ground, causing your eyes to grow wide with worry. You were already aware of the balmera’s condition, but you didn’t know it was this horrible. It seemed to be getting worse. 

“Woah, what was that sound?” Lance gasped.

“That great noise comes from the balmera itself” another balmera responded solemnly. “Our home crumbles beneath our feet. The balmera is dying.” You stood there speechless, you didn’t know how to respond. That news was terrible, and you didn’t know if you could do anything about it. You could free a planet from the Galra, but you had no idea how to save a dying planet.

“Coran, Allura, you there?” Shiro called the castle, his tone serious. 

“Shiro, we’re here” Allura responded in the same tone. 

“The balmera-“ Shiro began saying, but he was cut off. 

“We already know” Coran replied in a sad voice. “Our scanners are showing the life energy draining from the balmera.” A small hologram model of the balmera popped up from the silver armor on your wrist, displaying the blue and purple energy escaping the balmera. 

“How does that happen?” Pidge piped up. 

“Removing crystals from a balmera is like removing a vital mart of the mighty beast” Coran explained. “The balmera neeeds time to regenerate itself to stay healthy, but the Galras greed may have cost this noble balmerans life.” His voice became venemous as he said that last line. 

“So what’s going to happen to the balmera?” you added on, your voice full of dread. 

“It’s core will collapse, destabilizing it’s inture skeletal structure” Coran stated. “Anything or anyone on the balmera at that point will be crushed in dust.” This left you speechless once more, it was hard to imagine all the death and destruction that would come to the balmera. There were billions of balmerans on the planet, the idea of all of them dying was overwhelmingly heartbreaking. 

“How long until the core collapses?” Shiro asked quickly, starting to sound nervous.

“Probably a matter of hours” Coran responded lowly. 

“Then our time is short” Allura concluded. “We need to evacuate the balmera and get all the balmerans on the castle of lions before the planet collapses in on itself.” This sounded like a good plan to you, but you doubted if you could get all the balmerans on the ship in time. You tried to push away your fears and worries as you needed to focus on the mission. 

“Ok, that sounds like a good plan, but how are you planning on landing the castle with that monster on the surface?” Pidge asked her anxiously. Pidge had a point, that monster was still up there and it would attack the castle on sight.

You rummaged your brain for a way to stop the beast from attacking the castle. You didn’t think you could defeat it quickly, so you had to do something else to divert its attention. Then it hit you: you had to create a distraction. You didn’t have any ideas for one, but you knew who might. They may not respond back to you, but it was worth a shot. You took a deep breath to settle your nerves before you spoke up. 

“We’ll need to create a distraction” you declared. Then you turned to Keith quickly. “Any ideas Keith?” His eyes went wide and his eyebrows shot up in response to you question, just like you expected. 

“We could engage the beast in our lions” Keith stayed, his voice devoid of emotion. He seemed to be struggling as he spoke, as if he was hiding something. You were pretty shocked by his response, you didn’t think he would respond to you after your argument. However, you knew this was no time to get distracted by Keith, you had a mission to focus on. 

“With it distracted, Allura and Coran will land the castle and load all of its citizens.” Shiro added on. 

“Or we could load the balmerans into our lions a few at a time and not engage laser eye guy” Lance suggested anxiously. Even though you would rather use Lance’s suggestion rather than the current plan, you knew Lance’s suggestion wouldn’t work.

“That would be nice,” you reasoned, disappointed because you knew you would have to fight the monster. “But that would take too long.” 

“Plus, if you’re worriing about the beast, we don’t have to beat it” Shiro informed. “We just provoke and evade“ Shiro’s response calmed you down a bit, provoking and evading was exactly what you were doing earlier and you could probably stand another round. As long as you weren’t the one provoking, you would be fine. The last time you tried provoking it you got zapped. 

“Well here’s the thing: I think we’re going to be able to provoke it but we may not be able to evade it” Hunk admitted, his voice uneasy but then it became firmer as he continued. “But if this is what it takes to save Shay and everyone on the planet then I’m in.” 

“Can you contact the other balmerans?” Shiro asked Shay calmly. 

“I can, but I don’t think they will agree.” Shay responded, her voice distressed. “This planet’s our home!” 

“It’s the only option” Allura stated. “I’m coming down.” 

“Your coming down?” Shiro exclaimed, his voice filed with worry. “That ting will spot your pod and tear it into millions of pecies!” 

“Let me worry about that” Allura responded calmly. “You just focus on keeping the creature distracted.”

The five of you shot out of of the tunnel as the beast’s back was turned. The six of you shot it and then flew away, causing it to stumble as it stomped around to face you. You flew through a nest of brown branches as you dodged its green laser beams, the five of you following Shiro’s lead. 

You were wary about attacking it after it paralyzed your lion earlier, but you had to do so to distract the beast. Plus, you figured it wouldn’t be able to paralyze all six of you at once, especially as your team had gotten better at dodging. 

The beast was now flying through the air as it charged at you. It was shooting lasers from all sides. Even you had difficulty dodging at times as they were coming from the eyes, arms, and chest. 

“Ok, we've evoked, time to evade” Hunk stated as he zigzagged around boulders, causing the monster to run into them. As soon as the beast was going to shoot at Hunk, you shot at it. It let out a low mechanical growl before charging your way. A small smirk came to your face as you approached a stone arch, this was going to be fun. 

You slowed down your speed and lowered yourself closer to the ground. Once you got in position, you shot full speed ahead. Dust filled the screens around you as the monster tumbled face first into the ledge. Your smirk grew wider as you saw the monster sprawled on the ground, but it quickly got up and started charging towards you once more. 

“Princess, we’ve lured the monster away” Shiro alerted Allura. “It’s time.” 

“I’ll contact you all when I get to the ground” she responded. Seconds later you saw a microscopic, mostly white object streak through the sky. You squinted at it and you noticed there was glowing blue details on a small craft, which a person in white armor was hanging on to. 

“Is that Allura?” Lance asked, his tone a bit surprised. You were surprised as well, you didn’t know that the Alteans were so advanced that they could create technology that small for launching a person through a planet’s atmosphere. 

“We have to protect the princess” Hunk declared as he charged at the beast, who seemed to have his eye on Allura. the beast shot at Hunk just as soon as he was getting close, causing the yellow to tumble through the air.

“You alright Hunk?” You asked him, worry in your voice. You remembered how it’s shots paralyzed your lion earlier. “Is your lion still responding?” 

“Yep, it is” hunk responded quickly as he regained his balance and continued to evade its shots. The beast was about to shoot at Hunk once more, but Shiro flew straight towards it, pounced on it, and flew away. 

 

“I’m on the ground” Allura called through her helmet, causing you to sigh in relief. You were glad that she was safe.

After about 30 minutes of more dodging, you were starting to get exhausted and you felt your concentration start to fade out. Even though you had lots of extra practice with dodging in the garrison simulators, it was never for this long.

 

You hadn’t heard from Allura since she landed, you figured she was busy rounding up the balmerans. It made sense why she was so occupied, there were billions of them. However, you were staring to find the silence unsettling, something could have happened to Allura. 

“Paladins, how are you holding up?” Her strained voice crackled through your helmet. You sighed in relief as you did a barrel roll to evade the green lasers coming your way. You were glad that she was okay.

“I think we got him pretty distracted” Pidge summed up. “Are the balmerans in position?”

“There making their way to the top.” Allura replied. Then, the monster started shooting thousands of laser beams your way. Everyone flew upwards to evade the shots, but then the laser beams exploded across the balmerans surface. You cringed as the balmera let out another low wail, you didn’t have much time left. 

“Every shot weakens the balmera” you reminded the others as you felt your palms begin to sweat in your gloves, which were tightly grasping your lions controls. You really were racing against time, the balmera and all its inhabitants could be dying very soon.

“Are you evacuated yet?” Lance added on frantically. “What’s happening ?” 

“The balmerans are trapped, just keep distracting that beast” Allura responded sharply. Your eyes widened in fear as you realized you may not be able to save the balmerans after all. Nevertheless, you tried to shake off your fear and focus on your mission. 

“Guys, remember when I said we didn’t have to beat it?” Shiro piped up, struggling to keep his voice calm. “Well I was wrong, we might have to.” You rolled your eyes in annoyance, this mission was just getting worser and worser. Keith tried to shoot his fire ray at it, but it dodged his attack and shot several small arm lasers at him. You winced when you heard Keith’s groans as he tumbled around through the air and landed on the ground. 

“Ugh, this isn’t going to work” Keith exclaimed, as agitated as you were. Your eyes widened in surprise when you heard him, you figured he was just going to continue his silence for the rest of the mission because you were around. “We can’t take this thing down in our lion’s, and voltron didn’t work either. We can’t shoot all of the laser eyes at once!” not with some way to shoot at all those laser eyes at once.” 

 

You felt your heart sink as you heard his response. Even though you wanted to be hopeful, you realized that Keith was right. You didn’t see a way out of this situation, and time was running out. If you didn’t figure out something soon, the balmera as well as you would get crushed to dust. 

“Wait, something is happening here!” Hunk explained, causing you to widen your eyes in surprise. “There may be a way to take out all those laser eyes at once!” You felt you sadness slowly seep away as you were filled with hope.

“Yeah, I see it too!” You responded, you voice starting to become cheerful as a screen popped up on your dashboard. It showed a massive, intricate yellow cannon as well as yellow circles on all the beasts laser eyes. 

You wondered why the cannon was being displayed now when it could have come in handy earlier. Maybe it was because Hunk just strengthened his bond with his lion somehow or maybe it was because your team bond was strengthened by your agreement with Keith just now. Then you realized that the reason for it didn’t really matter right now, all that mattered was that you had a way to take the beast down. 

 

“Well what are you waiting for Hunk, let’s use it!” Lance exclaimed, irritation in his voice. 

“Well, it says here that we have to form Voltron first” Hunk explained. After Hunk said this, you realized Shiro would be giving you the command any second now. 

You readied yourself for forming voltron. You closed your eyes for a second and you took a deep breath as you began to focus on your teams bond with each other. You let your thoughts and feelings about Keith, your argument with him and the incident fade away. You tuned out your fears and worries about the mission as you recalled all of your great moments as a team. You reminded yourself of your first battle with Sendak, your glorious food fight, and the time you worked together to take down the purple robeast. 

“(Y/n), let’s form voltron!” Shiro commanded, causing you to open your eyes as the option for it appeared on your screen. You slammed your gloved finger on the option and voltron started to take shape. 

Your cockpit slid down, making room for the black lion. your felt your balance shift as the legs of your lion contorted to form the skeleton of voltron, which the other four slid on. You felt a pulse of energy run through your body, giving you a boost of energy.

A large, glowing white blob appeared on voltron’s shoulder, the glow fading away to reveal the massive yellow cannon. 

“Let’s see what this thing can do!” Shiro exclaimed as he shot the cannon at the monster. A million huge blue laser beams snaked out and charged towards the monsters laser eyes, causing red flares to fill the air as the beasts laser eyes got hit. The beast stumbled and flailed its arms as more and more lasers came it’s way. The sounds of tiny explosions filled the air, and then you heard a low mechanical hum as arcs of purple electricity were encircling the paralyzed beast. Your smile widened as you saw all of this, your had the advantage for once! 

 

Now that the monster was weakened, you observed the landscape around you for any other threats. Your eyes widened in amazement as you noticed a to see a gigantic circle of glowing blue light on the ground under the castle. A small figure clad in white armor was standing in the middle of the circle. Was that Allura? 

 

Then you heard a pulsing heavenly noise as the blue energy started to flow over the surface of the whole planet. The next thing you knew, your screen was filled with a glowing blue lanscape as far as the eye could see. 

“Wow!” Life exclaimed in amazement while you were left speechless by the wave of power. You knew Allura had magical abilities, but you didn’t know she could fill an entire planet with energy!

 

When the wave of power receded, your attention went back to the monster. As voltron, the six of you let out a battle cry as you charged at the paralyzed beast. A loud thump filled echoed as the monster was pushed to the ground by voltron’s extended right arm. Your smile grew wider as the color on its eyes faded away, the monster was no longer a problem.

After parking your lion with the others by the castle, you walked out of it. You felt your tension release as you realized the ground wasn’t quaking beneath you anymore. Allura must’ve healed the planet with her energy wave. 

You ran towards the crowd underneath the castle. There were several balmerans in the crowd. The other paladins were surrounding Allura, who was resting against Coran. When you joined the others, you noticed that she seemed extremely tired, with dropping eyelids and her brown skin a bit paller than usual. 

 

Then, the ground shook violently below you as the monster got back up, causing your jaw to drop and your heart to thump wildly. The balmerans instantly ran away from you and towards the legs of the castle. The monster was towering like a skyscraper above you, and it’s laser eyes were operational once more. A low hum echoed through the air as it charged up its eye lasers. Your blood ran cold as you realized that they were armed at you, and you didn’t have voltron to protect you this time as your lions were several feet away. 

 

Keith immediately got right in front of you, guarding the both of you with his shield. You froze, your eyes widening in surprise and your heart starting to thump even harder as you became shocked by Keith’s actions. Why the heck was he protecting you, and only you? It made no sense, especially after all you had done to him, and everything he did you you.

Then the planet moaned lowly as blue crystals started to consume the monster. Seconds later the monster was immobilized inside the gigantic crystals. Keith deactivated his bayard, but he still stayed inches away from you.

“No way!” Lance exclaimed in amazement as he gazed at the gigantic crystal which was incasing the monster. A smile came to your face as you felt a rush of gratitude for the balmera. If it didn’t consume the monster, then you would be dead by now.

“The balmera just saved us!” Pidge added on softly. “I guess it just repayed us for saving it.” 

“Look at the crystals!” Hunk exclaimed as tons of small crystals emerged on the balmerans surface, sparkling like shards of glass in the sunlight. 

“Oh who’s a good balmera?” He crooned as he petted the ground beneath him, causing you to raise an eyebrow. “You are! Who ate the big monster? You did!” 

“What are you doing?” you asked him, your voice curious. 

“It’s like a big puppy!” hunk exclaimed, causing your smile to become soft. “It’s alive and it loves my scratches!” 

You parked your lion in its hangar and you walked out of it, the metal on your boots clanking on the metal stairs. You walked through empty hallway after empty hallway as you headed towards your room, taking an alternative route so you wouldn't run into Keith. You heard a second set of footprints behind you, causing you to tense up. You turned around to see who was behind you. 

When you spotted shiro, you stopped walking and you immediately relaxed. You were glad that it wasn’t Keith, you didn’t want to be around him after that argument. Now that you were thinking about Keith, you remembered that Shiro hadn’t told you the results of his talk with him yet. You knew that shiro didn’t just say he was going to talk to Keith about the incident, he also said he was going to apologize for leaving him. Even though you knew your argument with Keith would get brought up, your curiosity got the better of you. 

“Oh, hi Shiro” you greeted him calmly, causing him to stop walking and stand about five feet away from you. “How did your talk with Keith go? Did he forgive you for leaving him?” 

“It went well” Shiro responded in a grateful tone. “I found out that he doesn’t hate me for leaving as he understood I couldn’t do anything about it” You felt a smile come to your face as you heard Shiro’s response. Keith had seemed pretty upset when Shiro left and you were glad he was feeling better about it. Then, your smile fell as you realized you shouldn’t be caring about Keith, especially after you broke him earlier.

“About the incident, I told him off about it” Shiro added on firmly. “I was pretty mad at him, especially sinice I’ve seen firsthand what it did to you.” Then his tone became gentler. “But then he told me how he feels about his past actions. I’m not mad at him anymore because of what he told me, I understand where he’s coming from. I told him that he needed to tell you what he told me. Has he done that yet?” 

“Yes, he told me” you responded shortly, crossing your arms while staring at the gleaming white wall beside you. Your teeth started to clench and your heart started to beat faster as you recalled Keith’s “apology” from earlier. Even though you felt horrible about your response to his argument, you were still mad at Keith. He seemed to expect your forgiveness, even after all that he did. His apology still couldn’t fix anything. 

“What is it (Y/n), what’s wrong?” Shiro asked you gently. You took a deep breath before responding. 

“I’m sorry Shiro, but I can’t forgive Keith” you stammered, your tone venemous. “I just can’t. Not after what he’s done to me, not after what he caused. A simple apology can’t erase the months of pain I went through because of him.” You paused as you searched for a way to explain your anger to Shiro. “To me, forgiving Keith is like forgiving the Galra, their crimes are too horrible to be ignored. I don’t think you can forgive the Galra for what they have done to you.”

Then the room became silent, all you heard was your rapid breathing and your heartbeat pounding in your ears. The silence was causing you to feel uneasy, You wondered if Shiro was disappointed in you because of your rejection of Keith. You figured he probably was, especially since you were the silver paladin and you didn’t do “the right thing”. 

“(Y/n), you don’t have to forgive Keith if you don’t want to” Shiro said solftly, breaking the silence. You turned your head towards him as he continued. “I just want you to think things through. You may not believe it, but I know for a fact that Keith deeply regrets what he did to you and James. I know that his apology can’t possibly fix anything, but knowing Keith he will try to make up for his mistakes.”

You raised your eyebrow at his last sentence. Since when did Keith actually try to fix his mistakes? You had never seen him do so during all his time at the garrison and at your elementary and middle school. How would Keith try to make up for his mistake anyways? You scoffed at the idea of Keith bringing you flowers or something cheesy. 

Even though you didn’t believe what Shiro said about Keith, you were glad that he cared. You felt relieved to know that Shiro didn’t scold you for rejecting Keith, scolding was the last thing you needed right now. 

“Thank you for understanding, this hasn’t been easy for me” you told him kindly, a faint smile coming to your face. 

“No problem (Y/n)” Shiro replied calmly. “Please let me know if anything else happens regarding Keith. We’re a team now, so we need to know. We don’t want any conflict nor secrets between paladins. The others don’t need to know what’s going on right now between you and Keith if you don’t feel like it, but they need to know eventually.

Your heart sunk at the idea of telling the others, but Shiro was right about it. You had to tell them sooner or later, but you reasoned you didn’t have to do so for a while. In the meantime, you needed to figure out how you were going to tell the others without them freaking out. 

 

“Ok, goodbye Shiro” you replied before turning a corner and continuing to head towards your room. 

After changing out of your paladin armor and into some more comfortable clothing, you headed out of your room and walked towards the kitchen. Even though you wanted nothing more than sleep after your emotionally and physically draining day, your hunger got the better of you. 

 

When you got to the kitchen, you raised your eyebrow as you saw that Hunk was surrounded by a variety of utensils and machinery as well as some colorful alien produce and spices. 

“What’s all of this?” You asked him, amazed. 

“Oh I’m just trying to make some ice cream.” he responded merrily. 

“How?” you countinued, still confused. “I don’t think they have milk or any of the other essentials for making it. 

 

“Oh, they don’t.” Hunk explained, a huge smile on his face. “But they do have many substances that behave like and taste like the main ingredients for ice cream.” He then started picking up half-used jars of pastel colored liquids and naming them. “This liquid is like milk, this one is like heavy cream and this one is like sweetened condensed milk. His voice got even faster as he picked up a brown bottle. “This one is like vanilla extract” He picked up two containers containing white powders. “And These two are like salt and sugar.” 

“Wow, you sure know a lot about cooking!” you remarked, a small smile coming to your face. You liked seeing Hunk explain something he was passionate about, he seemed very joyful and excited. 

 

“I’ve learned everything about cooking from my grandma” he sheepishly replied while he considered to tinker with the ingredients and machinery. “Plus, it’s nothing special, everyone on the team is smart about something. Lance has his inexhaustible list of pick up lines. Pidge knows how to hack and make computers. Keith knows a lot about fighting. Shiro is a great strategist and leader. The alteans know a ton about many things: the castle, magic, and the universe around us. As for you, you know a lot about flying and Keith.” 

“Oh right” you responded lowly, staring at the ground as you recalled your complex history with Keith. 

 

“Y/n, did I say something wrong.” He asked you gently, looking away from his churning stand mixer to look you in the eye. You felt your palms become sweaty and as you plastered a fake smile on your face.

“No, no you didn’t” you lied, trying to use a cheery tone. You didn’t want Hunk or anyone else to worry about you, you didn’t want to ruin his joyful cooking session. He pulled a lever on the mixer and started to fold the fluffy white substance into the creamy mixture inside of a blue bowl, while still making eye contact with you. Your heart started to beat faster with every second of his silence, he was on to you. 

“Hey (Y/n), are you okay” he asked you gently, letting his spatula lay flat on the rim of the bowl. “You seemed a bit distracted during the mission.” Yep he definitely knew something was up. You wondered if you should tell him. You would rather deal with Lance’s sound effects than talk about your painful argument, but Shiro’s words were still fresh in your mind from your talk with him earlier. He told you that you couldn’t have secrets between paladins, and you knew deep down that he was right. You had to tell Hunk at least half of the truth.

“I’m fine, I’m just upset because of an argument with Keith” you admitted, staring at the floor as you recalled it. Your frown grew deeper as you remembered the reason for your argument: the incident. Your heart sunk and your eyes started to water as you recalled all the pain and suffering it caused you. Your throat started burning and a lump started forming in your throat as you reminded yourself of the pain you had caused Keith earlier, he had the same broken expression and tear streaked face that you had during the incident. 

“Yikes! I don’t see you this upset over your usual arguments with Keith.” Hunk remarked, jerking your from your thoughts. You turned to him and realized how weak you had appeared around him. He may not be Keith, but you still had to keep your guard up around him. You had been hurt too many times in the past because you let your guard down, you didn’t want any of that to happen again. You were about to wipe your tears and slightly snotty nose oh your sleeve, but hunk pushed a set of napkins your way. “That one must have been terrible.” 

 

“Thanks Hunk” you muttered as you blew your nose. He started to spread the fluffy mixture onto a huge tray and he pressed several buttons on it, causing it to hiss as a lid was formed. 

“Did he say anything rude to you?” He asked you softly, turning his gaze towards you once more. Keith didn’t exactly say anything rude to you during the argument, but it was still a heartbreaking conversation for you.

You bit your lip as you considered your options. The idea of getting it off your chest was tempting, you didn’t want to continue keeping secrets from the team. However, you wanted to drop the subject as you were pretty emotionally drained already. You didn’t want to feel any worse than your current emotional state, plus you didn’t want to cause any drama between Hunk and Keith.

“Not exactly, It’s complicated” you responded shortly while turning your gaze towards the ground. 

“Ok, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to” Hunk replied calmly. “You should know that if Keith did say anything rude to you it isn’t true. That guy was a huge idiot at the garrison and he still is at times.” You felt a small smile creep on your face as Hunk said that last line.

“Yeah, you’re definitely right about Keith” you responded in a slightly cheery tone, remembering all those hilariously stupid pranks Keith pulled to get revenge on others at the garrison. “Do you remember some of his pranks from the garrison?”

“How could I forget?” Hunk remarked, his gentle smile becoming a grin. “One time he pranked Professor Montgomery by getting on her laptop and plastering pictures of Shiro all over her presentation for school the next day. The sides even had cheesy notes about Shiro’s greatness. That was one of the best presentations she ever gave us. Everyone knew it was Keith after Professor Montgomery showed the security footage to the class.” 

“Yeah, I remember he did that to get revenge on her after she insulted Shiro” you added on, widening your smile as you recalled those glorious years at the garrison before the incident. “She said something about Shiro not being qualified enough for the Kerberos mission or something like that.“ 

“How do you know it was because of that?” Hunk asked you, eyeing you with mild curiosity.

“Well me and James confronted Keith about it, as usual.” you explained, your tone smug as you recalled that event. Then the electronic dray dinged, and a cloud of cold white water vapor emitted from the machine. When it cleared away, there was a massive layer of homemade ice cream. It was a slightly off white creamy brown color, and it smelled sweet like vanilla, but it definitely smelled a bit zesty as well.

Hunk got out a huge scoop and two bowls. The scoop effortlessly glided through the cream as hunk filled the two bowls to the brim. Before you knew it, your bowl was in front of you and there was a tray filled with an assortment of toppings. You saw one that looked like (insert favorite ice cream topping here) and you scooped some onto your ice cream, mixed it up, and then began digging in. 

“Wow, this is great” you remarked between bites, the sugary ice cream melting in your mouth. Your voice became soft as you continued. “Thanks Hunk, both for the ice cream and cheering me up.”

 

“No problem, it’s the least I can do for the support you have given me” Hunk responded kindly. “Just let me know if you need anything.” 

 

You finished up your ice cream and took care of your bowl. Even though you wanted to stay and talk to Hunk, you were too tired. From your argument with Keith to your mission on the balmera, you had a very exhausting day. As you recounted the events of your day, you realized there was something you wanted to do before you went to bed. 

 

Even though you knew Keith deserved your rejection of his apology, you knew you could have been nicer about it. You were the silver paladin and yet you stopped down to his level. What you did was wrong, and you had to do something about it.

There wasn’t much you could do about it now as the damage was done, but maybe you could at least try to help Keith feel better. It would definitely ease your overwhelming guilt regarding your actions. You didn’t want to have to talk to him though, you were too drained and it would be super awkward. There must be something else you could do. 

 

Then you spotted the large ice cream tray in front of you and you got an idea. The ice cream made you feel better, maybe it could help Keith as well. 

 

“Do you mind if you I take any of this to go?” You asked Hunk casually, gesturing to the ice cream. 

“Sure, let me get it for you!” Hunk cheerfully replied. 

“Thanks for offering, but I want to make it myself” you responded gently, straining your arms to get the ice cream out of the tray. Hunk made scooping ice cream look so easy, especially when the tray was frozen solid. Even though it was difficult, you wanted to be the one who put the effort in as it was your mistake to fix. 

You examined the topping options, trying to find a topping that Keith would like. There were gummies and chocolates and everything in between, but you didn’t see Keith’s favorite topping. You only knew it because it was one of the many things you had noticed about Keith during your time with him at the garrison.

 

“Hey hunk, do you have any strawberry flavored syrups or ones that are close to it?” you asked him, curiosity in your voice. 

“Yeah, this Juniberry syrup tastes pretty similar” hunk responded, passing the jug of syrup your way. You heaved up the huge jug and poured a generous amount of syrup on the ice cream. You then hurriedly grabbed a clean spoon and headed out the door.

“Goodnight Hunk” you called as you walked out of the kitchen and towards Keith’s room. You gently placed the bowl of ice cream on the floor, careful to not make a sound. You took a deep breath to steady your nerves, here goes nothing. Your heart started pounding harder as you quickly knocked on the sliding door and sprinted around the corner. You were panting and your heard was still pounding as you stood against the wall. 

You heard a metallic click as Keith’s door slid open. You cautiously glanced around the corner to see Keith’s reaction. His solemn expression soon turned soft as he saw the ice cream. You swore he was smiling slightly as he gently picked up the ice cream and headed back in his room. You felt a small smile come to your face as you saw his reaction, you were glad that you helped him feel better. Plus, as an added bonus you had no awkward interactions with Keith while doing so. 

 

Then you heard a pair of footsteps grow louder and louder. You glanced around the other bend in the hallway to see Shiro walking towards you. He seemed to be looking for someone, but you figured it wasn’t you since you just talked to him earlier. Nonetheless, you quickly rounded the corner and sild open the door to your room. You were too tired to have any interactions with anyone. After getting ready for bed, you fell asleep seconds after you got under your cosy blanket.


	14. A change of heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those reading this on here, I’m very sorry that I haven’t been updating. If you want to read the more reliable version that is updated every 3 weeks, here’s a link https://quotev.com/story/11986873

You were on your way towards the kitchen when the lights flicked off, leaving you in almost absolute darkness. A shiver ran down your spine as you realized the hallway was eerily quiet. Your heart started to race as you heard soft footsteps, which increased in noise and speed with every second. Someone was running towards you.

 

Your breathing became unsteady and you felt sweat run down your back as you turned around to face whoever was chasing you. You saw a familiar mullet and a pair of violently purple eyes. You heart was now pounding in your chest as you realized the identity of your chaser. It was Keith, and he was giving you a deadly glare that made you tremble with fear. This wasn’t going to end well.

The next thing you knew, you were grabbed by the wrists and a dull, throbbing pain flowed through your body as you were slammed against the wall. Your wrists and head screamed in pain and your thoughts became a jumbled mess. You tumbled over onto the floor from the impact, barely conscious as you held your head in your hands.

You glanced upwards for a second and your eyes widened in fear as you saw a familiar blade covered with maroon splotches. Your eyes started to water and your lip began to quiver as the blade was quickly brought closer to your neck. You screamed as the cold blade grazed your skin, causing white hot pain to fill your as and tears rolled down your face. You screamed so loud that you felt your throat burn. 

 

Then, you jolted straight up out of bed. Your palms were clammy, your heart was thrashing wildly, and your breathing was unsteady. 

As you opened your eyes to examine your surroundings, you realized uou were in your dimly lit room inside the castle of lions. You calmed down a bit as you realized that you weren’t in a dark hallway and Keith was no were to be seen. 

After taking several deep breaths to calm yourself down, you grudgedly got out of your warm, cosy bed and you got ready for the day. 

 

Even though you wanted more sleep, you couldn’t go back to bed after that nightmare. It was extremely vivid and it felt too real, just thinking about it made you tremble. It had been a couple weeks since you had your last nightmare about the incident, but the one you just had was much worse than the usual ones. You figured it got worsened because of your argument with Keith as it had caused you to recall the incident.

Since you couldn’t go back to bed, you decided you would go find Pidge. Pidge seemed to be the type who stayed up late to tinker with electronics and such, so you figured she was awake as well. Talking with Pidge could probably get your mind off of your nightmare. 

 

You found Pidge in the green lions hangar, which had a variety of equipment and technology. It reminded you of science labs that you had seen back on Earth. As you examined the area, your eyes darted to the glowing purple crystal with a bunch of tubes connected to it. You cringed as you remembered when Sendak used it to take over the castle, but you tried to forget about it for now. 

 

“Hey Pidge, what are you doing awake?” You asked her, turing to face her. Your voice became more playful as you taunted her. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“Just because I’m two years younger than you doesn’t mean I have a bedtime (Y/n)” she fired back, giving you a small smirk. “We’re in space, and I can go to bed anytime I want” Her tone became plain as she continued to press buttons on her holographic screen. “Anyways, I’m analyzing this galra crystal. How about you?”

“I couldn’t sleep” you responded quickly, wanting to avoid talking about your nightmare. You walked closer to her and glanced at the diagrams displaying the crystal. “So what did you find out about the crystal?”

“Nothing yet, I’m still running tests on it” she replied, sounding a bit disappointed as the screen displayed several loading bars. “However, it does seem to be emitting some unknown types of energy.”

“So is it radioactive or something?” you asked, scrunching your forhead. You didn’t know much about types of energy, but you did know that most of them had the potential to cause harm. “That energy sounds dangerous.”

“I would know already if it was radioactive” Pidge responed calmly, turning in her swivel chair to face you with a smile. “As far as I can tell, the energy from it is harmless.”

“Oh ok, I hope it stays that way” you responded, but you were still tense. All the substances from the Galra that you had dealt with had tried to attack you at one time or another, and this crystal was one of those substances. It wasn’t a robeast, but it was powerful enough to take over the castle. 

“You alright (Y/n)?” Pidge asked you gently, jostling you out of your thoughts. “You seem a bit disoriented.” 

“I’m just tired” you responded plainly, averting her gaze. 

“You seem more tired than usual though” she remarked, gazing at you with mild curiosity. “Now that I think about it, you were even more disoriented yesterday. Did something happen?“ 

You took deep breaths to calm yourself down as you considered your options. Even though you hated the idea of discussing your argument with Keith, you knew it wouldn’t be right to keep her in the dark about it. She was one of your closest friends on the ship, and the less secrets between you and the other paladins the better your team will be. While staring at the floor, You took a deep breath before quickly responding,

“Keith brought up the incident that you overheard me tell Shiro about.” In response, Pidge stayed silent for a second, her hazel eyes widening in surprise. 

“That was pretty rude of him, he shouldn’t have brought it up since it is a horrible memory of yours” she replied, her tone venemous. “How did he bring it up exactly?”

“He apologized for his actions” you responded lowly as you recalled his “apology”. 

“That’s strange” Pidge replied, her forhead scrunching to match yours. “He doesn’t seem the type of person to apologize. Also, why would he apologize now when he could have done it earlier?” 

“Shiro told him to” you responded, your tone becoming venomous. 

“Ok that makes sense.” She concluded, her confusion fading away. “did you forgive him?” 

“No” you responded coldly, recalling everything the incident had caused. “His apology could never fix his mistake, it’s caused me too much pain to let it slide.”

“Honestly I wouldn’t forgive him either” Pidge replied sadly. Her tone became more curious as she continued. “How did you reject him exactly? Did you tell him gently or did you scream and yell?”

“Why do you ask?” you responded, taking a slightly defensive tone. You didn’t want to talk about what you did to Keith, it would bring back up all the guilt you had been suppressing. 

“Well Keith was acting very strange yesterday, your argument must have affected him quite a bit” she explained. “I want to know how badly he was affected so I know if I should be careful around him. He can be quite explosive at times.”

“Will you keep it a secret?” you asked her timidly. Pidge nodded in response. You took a deep breath before you quickly explained. “I yelled at him full force and I slapped him in the face as hard as I could.” 

“Wow, I never thought that you would get violent when you’re angry” she remarked, her eyes widening in surprise. “Your actions were pretty understandable for your situation, but do you think you went a little too far?”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t have done either of those things” you admitted lowly while staring at the floor. Your guilt resurfaced as you recalled how messed up Keith has been since your argument. You felt your heart sink as the images of his broken expression flooded your mind once more. 

 

“Well maybe you should tell him that” she replied gently, jostling you out of your thoughts. You jerked your head towards her and you raised an eyebrow. What the heck should you apologize to Keith? Sure what you did was wrong, but the idea of having a conversation with Keith about it freaked you out. 

“Well Keith is definitely an emotional wreck right now, which isn’t good for the team” she explained. “If you apologize to him and smooth things over between the two of you, then that could fix the problem.” 

Even though you hated to admit it, Pidge had a point. Voltron depended on your relationships with the other paladins. You may not be able to save the universe with voltron if your relationship with Keith stayed this distant. You had to do something about it, even if it meant an awkward conversation with Keith. 

 

“I’ll talk to him later” you replied, dread seeping into your voice. “I’ll need some time to prepare.”

 

“Pidge, (Y/n), please come down to the detainment room” Coran called through the intercoms in the castle. In response, Pidge groaned in annoyance as she shut down her technology and you rolled your eyes. This was just great. You didn’t want to be around Keith, especially after your nightmare last night. After everything was powered down, you and Pidge began to search for the detainment room. 

When you arrived at the detainment room, everyone was huddled around a large pod on the wall. As you saw the contents of the pod, you trembled in fear. Sendak, the monster who tortured you and made you feel completely helpless was frozen in the pod. You cringed as you recalled how your body seared with white hot pain as he zapped you time and time again with electricity.

 

“Okay guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up” Coran announced in a serious tone while placing small white pods on the clear cover of the pod. “But look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisioners.” 

“Coran, we understand this isn’t what the technology was meant for” Shiro responded calmly. “But if we can extract Sendak’s memories we may gain valuable information on the locations of Zarkon’s troops.” 

Shiro had a good point, any inside information about the Galra could be very helpful for your mission. However, you knew that the locations of Zarkon’s troops wasn’t the only valuable information you could get out of Sendak. Your fears of Sendak faded away as you wondered what other information you could acquire ftom him. 

 

“Plus, we can find out valuable information about Sendak and Zarkon themselves” you added on, your tone becoming excited as you imagined everything you could do with such information. You could end Zarkon's rule and save tons of planets! “If we find out their strategies, weaknesses, and motives, we know how to strike.”

“That too” shiro responded, glancing at you and giving you a small proud smile. “The more we find out about the Galra the better.”

“Yeah!” Lance exclaimed. “And then we can just be like knock knock, who’s there? The avenging fury of voltron son!” You felt your small smile grow wider as you observed his antics, you were glad that he was excited about your mission. 

“Fascinating!” Pidge remarked, pressing her face against a separate smaller pod connected to the one Sendak was in. “So how does this work?” 

“As the memories are extracted, they are written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands.” Coran explained. You were a bit confused by his explanation as you didn’t know all of those fancy terms, but you got the gist of it. 

“So it pretty much copies Sendak’s brain and desplays everything he knows” you concluded, your voice skeptical as you were doubting your response. It probably wasn’t right as you didn’t understand half the words Coran said, but it couldn’t hurt to guess. 

“Precisely (Y/n)” Coran responded cheerfully, causing your spirits to soar as you realized you might be decent at this technology stuff. 

“When I go, I want all of the stuff stored in my brain stored in a giant ship” Lance declared in a dreamy voice. You rolled your eyes in response as you imagined a ship like the castle displaying Lance’s pick up lines. 

“The amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane” Keith jeered, turning to glare at Lance. You were a bit surprised by his actions as he had been quiet for quite some time. Nevertheless, you felt your smile widen even further, you were glad that Keith was acting normal once more. 

“Oh yeah?” Lance fired back. “Well the amount of information you have Keith could be-“ Lance stooped mid sentence, unable to finish his retort. When you glanced at him, you noticed he seemed to be panicking a bit. You saw Lance turn towards you for help, but you immediately turned towards the pod to avoid eye contact with Lance. Even though you enjoyed teasing Keith, it seemed wrong for you to do so after you broke him. 

“Yeah?” Keith continued, causing Lance to panic even more.

“Well it’s less than I have!” Lance quickly retorted. Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in response, he seemed to be more grumpier than usual for some odd reason. 

“Oh good one Lance!” Hunk cheered, trying to support Lance after his obvious defeat. 

“So is this is how you incorporated King Alfor’s memories into the castle of lions?” Pidge asked Coran, bringing the conversation back to the pod in front of you. 

“Yes, but it’s never been attempted on an unwilling participant” Coran replied, his voice a bit unsure. 

Then the blue light in the smaller pod turned on, revealing a steady stream of foggy gas being emitted from a valve at the top. 

“Uh, is this what’s supposed to be happening?” Hunk asked while examining the pod. 

“Let’s give it some time” Shiro responded. 

 

It had been several slow, boring minutes since the smaller pod had turned on, and nothing had happened yet. You were starting to get a bit impatient with it, but you figured you could wait a bit longer. The information would be worth the wait. 

After several more minutes, you realized that you could probably miss the reveal of Sendak’s information. Everyone else could tell you about it later. Besides, you had better things to do anyways, such as sleeping. You didn’t get much sleep last night because of your nightmare so you had lots of sleep to catch up on. You also wanted to check on Allura as you hadn’t seen her in a while. She would probably like to know about the possible information you could be getting from Sendak. 

 

“I’m going to go take a nap, I’m still pretty tired from our visit to the balmera” you told the others as you yawned and started to walk out. You figured your mission yesterday was a reasonable excuse for a nap, you didn’t want to tell everyone the real reason you were tired. “I’m going to go check up on Allura as well.” 

“Ok (Y/n), get your rest” Coran responded. “Her room is the grey doors with the crystal hinges.”

When you got to your room, you flopped on your bed. You felt yourself relax as you got under the covers and closed your eyes, you were glad that you were able to sleep for a bit. Moments later you were asleep in your warm and cozy bed. 

 

Your eyes fluttered open and you glanced at your clear orange tablet from your warm and cozy bed. You reached for it while your head was still buried in a marshmallow pillow. Once you grabbed it, you checked the time. It was currently 10pm, so it had been one hour since you fell asleep. Even though you wanted to lay in your bed for the rest of the day, you knew you should probably visit Allura. Besides, the others probably wouldn’t let you anyways. 

 

After you brushed out your bead head and slipped your black hoodie back on, you headed out the door. You remembered seeing the door that fit Coran’s description right by one of the exiting hallways from the training deck. You decided to head towards the training deck and use it as a shortcut to Allura’s room.

 

When you opened the door, you saw that Keith was in a heated battle with a training gladiator. It had a long white spear with a metal tip that looked as sharp as your bayard. You saw Keith glance your way as you walked in, causing him to get distracted. The robot took this opportunity to kick Keith, causing him to drop his bayard and tumble onto the floor. 

“(Y/n) get out of here!” He exclaimed, panting as he got back up and ran towards his bayard, which was several feet away from him. “This robot is broken!”

You started to run towards the nearest exit, but the robot was alerted by your loud footsteps. It turned towards you and rotated it’s staff so it’s tip was pointed towards you. You froze in fear and your heart started pounding wildly in your chest. The robot then threw back its arm and threw the spear towards you. Your eyes widened in fear and you mind started to race as you realized that the spear was coming towards your chest. That spear was going to kill you, and there was nothing you could do about it. You squeezed your watering eyes shut and braced yourself for the impact. 

 

“Y/n, watch out!” Keith shouted.

Then you heard a thunder of footsteps as someone sprinted towards you. Seconds later you heard an ear shattering, bloodcurdling scream. When you opened your eyes, you saw the gladiator motionless on the ground. Your attention quickly darted away from the gladiator as you saw something on the floor that caused your heart to break. Keith was lying in the floor with the spear impaling him diagonally through his stomach.

 

Your eyes started to water and your throat started to burn as you processed what had just happened. Keith, had just taken the spear for you, and it stabbed him in the stomach. Keith was hurt!

“Keith!” You exclaimed with a horase voice as you ran towards him. A million thoughts and worries were racing through your mind but you chose to push them away for now. Keith’s condition was your number one concern. 

 

You sat next to Keith, who was wincing and squirming on the ground. He was panting heavily and hissing in pain as his bloodstained hands clutched his stomach, Which was diagonally impaled by the spear. The room started to spin as you saw bright red blood ooze from where the spear ripped through his shirt and came into contact with his flesh. The blood soaked his shirt and trickled down his clothing, staining it a dark red. There was a pool of dark crimson blood around his waist, with several splatters of blood dotting the floor. 

You felt yourself began to panic as you saw all of the blood, but you pushed that feeling away. Even though you wanted to look away, you knew you had to help Keith. You recalled your first aid training from the garrison and you got right to work. 

 

First, you would have to pull the spear out of Keith in order to treat the wound. You quickly ripped your jacket off of your back and summoned your bayard. You couldn’t care less about it at the moment, you needed to turn it into gauze. You used the metal end to cut the cuffs off of the sleeves. 

“This is going to hurt.” You informed Keith in a serious tone, trying to mask your quivering voice. You then grabbed one of the cuffs. “Bite down on this when it hurts, it’ll help the pain.” You gently placed it on top of his clenched teeth, which parted for a second to let the material slide in. 

 

Then you placed both hands on the base of the spear, which was poking out from his stomach. Once you had a firm grip, you slowly and carefully pulled it out, making sure to not jerk it too fast. Keith let out another bloodcurdling screech as you did so, which sent shivers up your spine and felt like a punch in the stomach. They were like James screams from the incident, times five. Even though you wanted nothing more than his screams stopping, you knew you had to keep going. 

 

Once you got the spear out of him, his screaming was replaced by his heavy panting. You gingerly lifted the base of his sticky shirt up to examine the wound. You realized that taking the spear out may have not been the best decision as the wound was gushing out blood even faster now, but you couldn’t analyze or treat his wound with the spear in him. 

 

The wound on his front side seemed to be around one or two inches in width and three inches in length. It was very deep as the pole of the spear went completely through his stomach Your stomach lurched when you saw the deep red hole with fleshy pink innards that was still trickling blood everywhere, but you tried to ignore it as you had to now focus on stopping the bleeding. 

 

You turned back towards your jacket and you began to cut long strips out of it using the metal edge of your bayard. Then you took a couple and gently filled the wound with them, causing Keiths hissing in pain to become louder. Keith grunted in pain as you pressed down on the wound firmly a couple of times. You did this to make sure that the stuffing wouldn’t fall out while you checked the wound on his backside. 

You gingerly rolled him onto his back which was no easy feat. your arms ached with a dull pain afterwards, but you brushed it off as you had more important things to focus on. 

The wound on his back was diagonal to the one on his stomach. Thankfully it was much smaller, but it was still revolting to see. It was gushing blood as well, and it seemed to trickle out faster than the one on his stomach. You repeated the process of stuffing the wound, causing more grunts from Keith. 

Once you were done, you grabbed Keith by the shoulders and raised him up as gently as you could. Your muscles strained once more, but you once again brushed it off. While keeping one firm hand in Keith’s shoulder to keep him upright, you grabbed more fabric strips with your other hand. You tightly tied strip after strip around both of the wounds, letting go of Keith’s shoulder and holding him upright by an arm around his back so you could tie the knots.

 

After you were done with that, you gently grabbed both of his shoulders and you slowly lowered him to the floor. Now that his wounds were somewhat treated, you turned your attention towards his face. You felt your heart sink as you saw his broken expression. Tears were streaming down his face, and you saw something in his eyes that you had never seen before: fear. He was trembling violently, causing some of your suppressed worries to surface. 

His panicking would cause him to loose blood even faster now! Those makeshift bandages might not be able to stop it. You needed to come up with a new plan, and fast. 

You needed to calm him down. Once you realized this, you reached your trembling hand towards his and held his hand. His heart was beating so fast that you felt it in his warm and clammy hand. Keith closed his hand around yours, and you felt the violent thumping of his heart slightly fade away. 

“You’re going to be ok Keith” You told him as gently as you could with a quivering voice. You were starting to panic as you realized he probably wasn’t going to be okay, but you tried to ignore those thoughts as much as you could. You had to stay strong, you couldn’t help Keith if your fears overpowered you. 

“(Y/n), th-there’s som-something I n-ned to t-tall oo” Keith croaked. “I-I lubb oo.” You couldn’t understand what he was saying, but you knew he should stop talking as you just felt his heart rate increase. 

”We will talk later Keith, right now it would just make things worse” you quickly replied. You realized that you should probably notify the others now that Keith was more stable. You would definitely need some help carrying him out of here. “Plus, I need to alert everyone. Please try to stay calm.” 

 

You ran over to an intercom on the wall and you hit the blue button. “Everyone, come quick, there’s an emergency in the training deck!” you exclaimed in a strained voice. 

Seconds later, Allura, Coran, Lance, Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge came bursting through the doors in that order. They panted as they came in, and they froze in shock as they saw Keith on the floor. Their foreheads creased in worry and there eyes widened in fear, they were so shocked that they didn’t say a word. 

 

“What the hell happened here (Y/n)?” Lance yelled venemously, breaking the silence. 

“Would you take it down a notch Lance?“ you fired back quietly, meeting his glare with one of your own. “Keith is extremely disoriented, the last thing he needs is your yelling.“

“About Keith, he-“ you tried to explain, your voice starting to quiver and become somber. Your eyes started to water once more and you got caught on a lump in your throat as you recalled Keith’s injury. After taking a second to try to compose yourself, you continued. “The gladiator went mad and threw a spear at Keith.” You didn’t think it was necessary to tell them what happened before he got stabbed, and you honestly didn’t want to talk about it. It would bring up some of your suppressed worries and fears. 

 

“Is he okay?” Shiro asked nervously as everyone ran towards Keith. You felt your heart stop as you saw him motionless on the ground and an overwhelming wave of dread came crashing down on you. His skin was pale and you didn’t hear the familiar sound of his rapid breathing. 

No he couldn’t be dead, could he? You quickly put your hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat. You felt some of the dread wash away as you felt his heartbeat, but it was faint. He must’ve fallen unconscious while you alerted the others.   
“He’s still alive, but barely” you informed everyone, panic seeping into your low voice. 

“What about the robot?” Hunk asked anxiously. “Is it still out to get us?”

“It diactivated as soon as it threw the spear” you responded, pointing to said robot on the floor several feet away. 

“That’s one of their emergency safety measures” Coran concluded in a sad voice. “I never thought that it would have to be used.” 

 

“We need to get him to a healing pod immediately!” Pidge exclaimed nervously. You shook your head in response. Your panicking worsened as you realized you couldn’t use a healing pod to save Keith with the castle’s current condition. 

“That won’t work!” you exclaimed. “If a bot tried to kill Keith then the rest of the castle will try to kill him as well! We can’t risk putting him in a pod if it could kill him.”

“So what do we do?” Hunk asked you, his hopeless voice causing your watering eyes to worsen.

“We need to get Keith out of here!” You yelled, your emotions running wild as you realized the gravity of your situation. Keith was dying, and you couldn’t stop it. 

“There’s medical beds in the med bay, we could carry him there.” Coran suggested softly. 

“Okay let’s go!” You continued yelling. You crouched down and and slung Keiths arm around your shoulder, causing your arm to scream in pain. You felt your back ache as Keiths weight shifted upon you and you attempted to get back up. “I need someone to help me carry Keith out of here!”

“Are you sure (Y/n), I could carry him by myself” Shiro offered, trying to keep his nervous voice gentle. 

“I’m sure” you replied firmly. “Now let’s get him out of here.” Shiro crouched down by the other side of Keith and slung his other arm over his shoulder. You felt your balance come back as you got back up, but your back was filled with a throbbing pain all the way to the med bay. 

After you and Shiro set Keith down in the bed as carefully as you could, Coran had everyone leave for a minute so he could get Keith in a healing pod suit. The healing pods may be unstable, but according to Coran the suit could still be used to monitor Keith’s condition. 

When you were outside with the others, you realized that your hands were sticky with Keith’s blood. Your clothing was slightly bloodstained as well. You figured that was from when you treated Keith’s wounds and held his hand. You would clean yourself up later, you had more important things to focus on.

Seconds later, the metal doors clicked back open and everyone was let back inside. Keith was in a gray suit and he was covered up in the bed in front of you. The bed was plain and white, and it seemed to be identical to the one in your room, except for a couple of extra buttons on a raised platform at the foot of it. 

 

When you saw Keith, your heart started thumping harder in your chest and your blood ran cold. You almost couldn’t recognize your snarky and guarded rival as he resembled a corpse. His jet black hair clashed against his almost white skin, and his dropping figure was completely still. You felt yourself start to tremble as you realized how close to death he was. 

 

“Did you do these bandages (Y/n)?” Coran asked you gently. All you could do was nod in response as your eyes welled up with tears and your throat started to burn. 

“It’s a good thing that you bandaged him when you did (Y/n)” Coran continued. “He’s stable for now, but if we don’t find out how to return the castle back to normal soon Keith might not make it.” 

Coran’s words caused your heart to shatter into a million pieces as the hopelessness of your situation crashed down on you. No one had a clue about how to fix the castle, so you couldn’t possibly get Keith in a healing pod. He was going to die. Your felt a tear slide down your face as you realized this and a lump formed in your throat. 

“Can you guys please give me a moment alone with Keith?” you croaked between sniffles. You knew you were on the verge of breaking, and you didn’t want the others to witness it. 

“Um sure” Allura replied, her voice full of concern. You kept your composure for a couple of seconds as they left. You pulled up a chair to sit by the side of Keith’s bed. As soon as you were sure that they were far away, you let your emotions out. 

You let out several heavy sobs as tears cascaded down your face. Keith, your rival of several years, was dying! You covered your face with shaking hands as you realized what you would lose. You would never be able to race with him or compete with him ever again! There would be no more playful teasing nor firey arguments between the two of you! You would never see the smirk and smile that you loved. You never realized how much those things meant to you until now. 

On top of all of that, he was dying because he took a spear to the stomach for you! You were the reason why he was dying! If you didn’t walk into that training deck, this wouldn’t be happening!

 

As if on instinct, You grabbed Keith’s cold hand and squeezed it tightly. 

“I’m sorry Keith, I’m so so sorry” you admitted lowly between violent sobs. Waves of guilt came crashing down on you, causing your heart to sink even lower. “This is all my fault. I’m the reason why your dying!” 

Suddenly feeling very drained, you decided to take a breather. You figured it would help because your head was pounding from all of that crying. Plus, with all of this worrying about Keith, you never thought about the impact of his actions.

Keith had been a source of hate for you for years. Before today, You thought he was cold, stubborn, competive, selfish, arrogant.... you had quite a list of negative adjectives for him. However, recently Keith had acted quite contrary to your opinions. From the strange times he agreed and listened to you to his emotional apology, Keiyh had proven to you bit by bit that he was different.

You didn’t want to acknowledge his change back then, but now that he went so far as to risk his own life and take the excruciating pain of a stab wound, you couldn’t deny it. Keith Kogane wasn’t that monster who attacked James anymore, that old Keith would probably let you get stabbed. 

You felt a small pang of guilt as you remembered your argument with him yesterday that turned the two of you from confident and fiery rivals to awkward and distant sworn enemies. But could you possibly stay sworn enemies after he sacrificed himself for you? The more you thought about it, you realized it was impossible. You couldn’t hold a grudge against him after what he did.

 

You told him that he couldn’t repair the damage he caused you and James. You said that his apology couldn’t fix scarring you for life and scaring you for your life, so he the one thing that could. He gave his life for you.

 

He was willing to go through all of that pain to make it up to you! You realized in that moment that Keith truly meant his apology and he had a major change of heart. You felt your guilt subside as that realization struck you like a lightning bolt. An overwhelming surge of gratitude washed over you, and a soft yet sad smile came to your face as you gazed at Keith. You would be dead by now if it wasn’t for him.

“Thank you for saving my life” you said gently. Your voice gained a somber tone as you continued. “I’m sorry for yelling at you and slapping your face, I know now that you have changed and you truly regret your actions. I forgive you Keith.“

You felt your seat vibrate as the castle gently shook, jerking you out of your trace. What has going on? A small holographic screen came out from the wall right next to the door, and it seemed to display the castle going through a wormhole. Your brows furrowed as you saw it. Wasn’t Allura supposed to be resting?

“(Y/n), report to the main entrance hallway by the control room” Allura called through the intercoms, her strained voice filling you with dread. After taking one last glance at Keith, you closed the door and ran out towards the hallway. 

When you got there, you saw Lance, Pidge, Shiro, Hunk, and Coran facing Allura. Everyone seemed to be nervous, even Shiro who was trying to appear calm. 

“My fathers memory got corrupted by the Galra crystal” Allura stated in a serious tone. You raised an eyebrow in response. 

“Is that the reason why the castle has gone beserk?” you asked her, your voice skeptical. Allura quickly nodded in response before continuing. “It has taken control of the castle and it’s sending us towards a highly unstable star. When I take out my father’s memory, the castle will be back to normal. In the meantime, you five paladins need to get in your lions and stop the castle from crashing into the sun.”

While you heard her words, your heart started to race as you were becoming anxious. You definitely didn’t want to get burnt to a crisp by running into a star. However, you felt a strong urge to stay inside the castle. You could put Keith in the healing pod as soon as Allura took out the memory thingy. It seemed like saving Keith was more important right now. Besides, the others could probably slow the castle all by themselves. 

“Can you guys do it without me?“ you asked them sheepishly. “I need to stay behind to put Keith in the healing pod as soon as the castle is back to normal.” Shiro nodded in response. 

“We’ll take care of it” He calmly replied. “Take care of Keith.” A small soft smile came to your face as you heard his response, you were glad that he understood how important saving Keith was to you. 

“I will” you responded, your voice now taking a serious tone. You then turned towards Allura, and your heart twinged as you saw her troubled expression. “Please let me know when the castle is ready.” 

“Ok (Y/n)” Allura replied, trying to keep her somber voice serious. You knew taking her father’s memory out of the castle would be painful for her, but you had to forget about it for now. You could comfort her later, Keith was number one priority. You ran out of the room and towards the med bay. 

Once you got to the med bay, you slumped on the wall and took a couple of seconds to catch your breath. After taking several deep breaths, you saw a curious gray circle about 2 feet wide on the ground. It had a little raised border with glowing teal details. Was this a healing pod or something? Last time you checked they were all in another room. You crouched down and pressed the little glowing teal button, and the translucent pod slowly emerged from the floor. 

 

Once you saw it, a wave of relief washed over you. You had been wondering how you were going to get Keith in a healing pod. You certainly couldn’t carry him for any longer than a second or two, making the trek to the healing pod room impossible. Now, with the healing pod a mere foot or two from Keith’s bed, it was possible. You went over to the pod and touched it, causing a holographic screen to pop up. You figured you should probably get it ready, you couldn’t carry Keith and calibrate it at the same time. After pressing some buttons, the pod was open and ready for Keith. It just had to get cleared first. 

 

It had been at least a minute or two since Allura left, she should be alerting you any second now. You ran over to Keith’s bed and shoved down your worry as you saw his almost lifeless form. You ripped the blanket off of Keith and crouched down beside him, putting one arm under his knees and another around his back. You figured you could probably balance his weight better if you carried him like this, even though you scoffed at the idea. You never thought you would be carrying your rival bridal style. 

 

After waiting a couple of seconds, Allura’s voice boomed from the intercoms. 

“(Y/n), the castle is operational once more.” 

“Oh thank goodness” you exclaimed. An even larger wave of relief flooded over you, causing a small smile to come to your face. Keith was going to be okay! You glanced towards the pod. A new wave of energy surged through it, causing the pod to glow teal as it turned back to normal. 

 

Your arms, shoulders, and upper back screamed in pain as you lifted Keith up out the bed, but you had to ignore that for now. You struggled to keep your balance as you heaved Keith off of the bed and carried him towards the pod. Once you got there, you let go of your grip on Keith and he fell into the pod. The pod quickly caught him and straightened him out, causing him to stand still like a statue inside of the pod. The pod hummed as it closed. After a couple more seconds the pod had calibrated. You didn’t understand much of the information displayed on it, but you guessed from the symbols and the full circle with twelve slices in it that Keith would he healed in one day. 

 

The castle vibrated once more, and you looked out of the windows to see a much different landscape. There was no flaming star right in front of you, you just saw the familiar black of space with colorful nebulas and freckles of glowing white stars streaking the sky. Your smile widened, the others did it! 

 

When you walk back into the control room, your smile fell as you saw everyone crowded around an upset Allura. Her face was tearstreaked and her eyes were still watering, she looked as broken as you did earlier. You wanted to make her feel better, but you didn’t know what to say. 

“I’m sorry about your father princess” Shiro began, breaking the silence. His voice was gentle and sincere. 

“We all are” Hunk added on. You nodded in response, remembering how heartbreaking it was when you thought Keith was going to die. It was terrible, and Allura was feeling the same way about her fathers memory. However, it couldn’t come back, so it must be worse for her. 

“Thank you, but that is not my father” Allura responded after a couple seconds of silence. You felt your frown slide off of your face as you heard her strong and determined voice. “The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be with us anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us and his legacy is voltron.” A small smile came to your face, you were glad that she was able to overcome her sadness. 

“I bet your father would be very proud of you right now Allura.“ you replied gently. You felt a wave of gratitude for Allura rush over you as you recalled everything that her sacrifice caused. “Your sacrifice saved all of us from crashing into that supernova and thanks to you Keith is safe in a healing pod.”

 

“Thank you (y/n)” Allura replied, her voice now calm as she gave you a small smile.

 

“It’s the least I could do.” You replied, sheepishly shrugging your shoulders. You then turned towards everyone. “Thanks guys for covering for me.”

“No problem” Hunk replied calmly. ”when is Keith going to be healed?” 

“He’s going to be completely healed by tomorrow morning” you replied, your voice slightly cheery. “Of course, he could always come out eariler or need more time. He’s going to be completely normal, besides maybe a few scars of course.”

“I’m glad that he’s going to be alright.” Shiro added on, his voice full of gratitude and relief. It turned somber as he continued. “I lost it when I saw him unconscious like that.”

“It’s okay Shiro, you weren’t the only one” you admitted gently, your voice slightly somber as you remembered your past emotional state.

“Man I’m glad that the castle is back to normal” Hunk said casually, breaking the silence that had fallen on the room. “I don’t want food goo to attack me ever again.” This caused a small smile to creep on your face as you held back laughter. You knew that the castle was trying to kill you, but the image of food goo attacking someone was just hillarious. 

“Wait, that happened?” you exclaimed after taking a couple of seconds to stifle your laughter. “Did I miss out on anything else?”

“Well Sendak left the castle” Pidge added on. 

“How?” you replied, your eyes wide with shock. “Did he escape?” 

“No he didn’t.” Shiro responded lowly while staring at the ground. “He was communicating with me and getting inside my head. I had to get him out of here, he’s too dangerous to keep inside the castle.” You were a bit upset because of this news as you could have gotten lots of of information from Sendak, but you figured it was for the best. You didn’t want that creepy monster inside the castle anyways. 

 

“Yeah, I didn’t think that was a good idea anyways.” Lance added on. “Well, I’m going to go relax and then go to bed.”

 

“Isn’t it a bit early?” You asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“Not really, it’s around seven or eight pm” Lance replied, before yawning and leaving the room. You thought it was still around noon or something. All of those angsty moments must have made the time fly by fast. You decided you should probably get a new set of clothes and clean yourself up. 

 

After you were in an outfit almost identical to your old one and your hands were clean, you headed towards the med bay. Even though it would probably be several more hours till you were able to talk to Keith, you decided to wait in there. You wanted to talk to him as soon as he got out of the healing pod. 

 

You sat on the bed Keith was in mere hours ago as you waited. From your changed response to his apology to thanking him, you had a lot to talk about with Keith. Your mind raced as you prepared yourself for your conversation with him. You recalled everything you wanted to talk to him about, such as his current condition and the moment when he saved your life. 

As you sat there pondering your thoughts, you felt yourself slowly drift asleep. You have had a tiring and emotionally draining day so far. You rested your head against the platform on the foot of the bed and your eyes fluttered closed. Even though you tried to keep yourself awake, you couldn’t. You figured Keith wouldn’t be coming out of the pod soon, so you could nap a bit before then. 

You woke up covered up your own bed, pretty confused and startled. How the heck did you get here? Last time you checked, you were sleeping in the med bay. You didn’t remember walking back to bed, so someone must have carried you while you were still asleep. You figured either Shiro or the Alteans did that, you would ask them later. You had more important things to do, such as talk to Keith. You jolted out of bed, still in your normal clothes and you ran out. 

 

When you got to be med bay, you saw no sign of Keith. The pod was empty, he must have gotten out already. You left the room and ran towards the control room. If he just got out of the pod, he probably went to the control room to meet with the others. 

After cracking open the door to the control room, you peered inside. You soft smile came to your face as you saw him, he was looking much better than the corpse earlier. He was calmly talking to everyone, and a small smile was on his face. 

You noticed that Keith was back in his usual outfit, which was probably new since his old black pants and shirt were bloodstained. He had his red jacket on as well, plus his tool belt. 

 

Before you knew it, the door was open wide, the room went quiet, everyone turned their gaze towards you. You sheepishly glanced away from Keith as he glanced at you. You felt your face grow warm with embarrassment as you realized he had caught you staring at him. However, you immediately ignored that feeling, remembering that you needed to talk to Keith. 

“Keith, we need to talk” you told him, trying to sound serious.

“O-h okay” Keith replied sheepishly before following you out of the room. You felt your palms become sweaty and your heart started to race as you wondered where you and Keith should talk. 

“Um, is it alright if we go to your room?” You stammered, your voice unsteady. Keith turned to face with a raised eyebrow, taking his gaze off of the floor. This caused you to become more anxious as you searched for an explanation. “The others are probably in the lounge and my room is right next to Lance’s I don’t want him evrsdropping.“ Your nervousness subsided when Keith nodded in response, and the two of you started to head towards his room. 

Once you reached your destination, Keith slid open the door and you walked in after him. After he turned the light on, you took a second to examine the room around you. You weren’t surprised when you saw how bare it was, you knew decorations didn’t really matter to him. 

Keith sat on the edge of his bed, leaving enough space for you to sit next to him. You hesitantly sat next to Keith. You were suddenly feeling awkward as you remembered your argument with him just days ago, but you chose to ignore that feeling. It would only get in the way of talking with Keith.

After taking a deep breath, you turned towards him.

“How are you feeling?” You asked Keith, trying to sound casual. “Do your wounds hurt at all?” 

“I’m doing okay” Keith replied plainly, staring at the floor. He then turned his head so that he was making eye contact with you. His voice became gentler as he continued. “The wounds are feeling much better thanks to you. Thank you (Y/n) for bandaging them.“

You were taken aback by his response. His soft voice caused your heart to slightly melt, rendering you speechless. Your heart started to race as you searched for a reply. 

“It’s the least I could do after you took that spear for me” you sheepishly responded, scratching the back of your neck. “I don’t understand why you did that though.” After a seconds of silence, Keith replied, 

“I did it to fix my mistake.” His voice became even softer as he continued, causing your heart to melt even more. “I figured that saving your life might make up for scarring you for life and making you scared for your life.” You felt overwhelming waves of gratitude and love for Keith rush over you as you heard his words. this was becoming too much for you, you couldn’t keep these feelings to yourself any longer. 

“Can-can I hug you?” You stammered, your voice unsteady. You knew you should probably ask Keith’s permission, especially because he was usually a pretty guarded person. Keith’s eyes went wide, but then a soft smile came to his face and he nodded. 

 

Your smile widened, and you wrapped your arms around his waist without hesitating. As you closed the gap between the two of you, your spirits skyrocketed and your whole body was flooded with warmth. Seconds later, Keith gently wrapped his arms around your waist, causing your heart to beat even faster. In this moment, you didn’t care that Keith was your rival. He was the boy that sacrificed himself to save your life.

 

The both of you stayed silent for some time, throughly enjoying your hug. As you let yourself relax in his embrace, your racing heart and mind slowed down to a crawl. 

“Thank you Keith” you told him with a soft voice. A wave of regret hit you as you recalled your argument with him. “Thanks for saving my life, even after I yelled at you rejected your apology and smacked you in the face. I shouldn’t have done any of that.“ 

“No I deserved after what I did” Keith consloled you. His response lessened the guilt that was dragging you down, but Your heart sunk once more as you noticed the self hatred in his seemingly gentle voice. 

Keith’s voice suddenly became more hopeful. “Wait, are you actually forgiving me for the incident?” A smile came back to your face as you heard him. 

“Yes” you calmly responded. “By jeopardizing your own life to save mine, you more than made up for your mistake.”

 

“Thank you y/n!” Keith exclaimed, his voice full of gratitude and sincereity. He tightened the hug, causing you to melt in his embrace. “You have no idea how great it is to hear that from you.“ His voice became playful as he continued. “Now that that’s finally resolved between us, are we sparring anytime soon?” 

“Keith!” you scolded him, releasing your grip on his waist as you became irritated with him. This caused Keith to slowly release his grip on you, but your faces still stayed inches apart. 

Keith got stabbed yesterday, and he was already talking about fighting! When was he going to learn to take care of himself? “You just got stabbed yesterday and your talking about fighting again? You need to take a break.” 

“Wait, are you just trying to postpone it because you are scared?” Keith taunted you, a smirk coming to his face. This caused you to roll your eyes in response. 

“No way!” you remarked, your voice taking a defensive tone. “You just need your rest.” 

“And why do you think you can tell me what to do?” Keith fired back, causing you to become even more irritated with him. “You aren’t Shiro.” 

“I’m not Shiro, but I’m not the silver paladin for nothing.” You retorted, confidence seeping into your voice. “I have to do the right thing, and that includes making sure you take care of yourself after a freakin stab wound!”

 

Your forehead scrunched in confusion as you saw a soft smile appear on his face. Where did that come from? He wasn’t supposed to be smiling since you were giving him a piece of your mind. 

 

“Wait, why are you smiling?” You asked him, your voice taking a slightly accusing tone. 

“Oh it’s nothing, I’m just glad we’re back to normal.” Keith responded sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. You raised an eyebrow in response, he was acting awfully suspicious. However, you decided to not made a big deal out of it.

“Okay then, we should probably get back to the others” you informed him, getting up from the bed. Everyone else would start to get suspicious if you weren’t back soon, if they weren’t already. 

“Wait, there’s something I want to do first” Keith said, gently grabbing your wrist. You felt your face become warm as you felt his warm hand on your wrist, but you quickly pulled your arm from his grasp. You crossed your arms and glared at him. You really needed to start heading back, you couldn’t afford his distractions. 

“What is it?” you asked him sternly. “It better be a good reason for staying away from the team.” 

“I want to go get ice cream.” Keith responded calmly. 

“Wait what?” you gasped, your eyes widening. “That doesn’t sound like a good reason.” 

“Well too bad.” Keith taunted you, his voice smug. “You wanted me to take care of myself, and eating ice cream just happens to fall into that category.” You faceplamed in response, realizing how childish he currently was acting. 

“I guess I can’t argue with that” you admitted sheepishly. “But honestly everyone needs ice cream after everything that has happened recently.” In response, Keith sighed in defeat. 

“Okay, let’s go to the others then” he responded, a twinge of disappointment in his voice as he got up from the bed and followed you out of his room. As you walked through the hallways, You wondered why he was so upset about getting ice cream with everyone opposed to getting ice cream with just you. It confused you since he would be getting ice cream either way, but you shrugged it off. Keith probably wouldn’t answer any questions about it anyways. You remembered you hadn’t asked about what he tried to ask you earlier, but you decided you should talk to him about it after he got some rest.

“So how did you find out about the ice cream anyways?” you asked him, your voice taking a playful tone as you changed the subject. 

“The other day I found a bowl of it outside of my room with some strawberry syrup on it” he replied in the same tone. “Do you have anything to do with it?” 

“Maybe” you teased him. “That syrup is juniberry though, not strawberry.” 

“Oh so you were the one that left it for me!” Keith exclaimed in a mocked accusing tone. 

“Yes, so what?” you responded with a sightly defensive tone. “It’s not that big of a deal.” 

You took off running as you saw the doors for the control room ahead of you. You decided a spontaneous race would make Keith forget about you leaving the ice cream for him. A smirk appeared on your face as you saw his shocked expression from the corner of your eye. Keiyh was several feet away from you, you were creaming him! 

 

Keith picked up the pace and started sprinting towards you, but he was too late. You burst through the door, panting. After taking a second to steady your breathing, Keith ran into the room. Your smirk grew wider as you saw how exhausted he was. When you turned your attention back towards everyone else, you noticed that all eyes were on you and Keith. 

 

“Hey guys!” you said casually, your smirk turning into a smile as you composed yourself. 

“So what was so important that you needed to talk to Keith about alone?” Lance teased, a smirk spread across his face.

 

You felt your blood start to boil as You turned towards Lance and gave him a firey glare. How dare he! Your conversation with Keith wasn’t any of his business, he had no right to be nosy!

“What the heck Lance!” you yelled at him. You were going to continue giving him a piece of your mind, but Keith did that for you. 

“Thats none of your business” Keith snarled at him, his voice low and venomous. A small smirk came to your face as you heard him, you were glad that he was on your side. It grew even wider when you saw Lance’s smirk fall from his face. It served him right for being so nosy. 

“Yep Keith and (Y/n) are back to normal” Hunk remarked, smiling at the two of you. You turned towards him and gave him a smile of your own. Hunk was right, you and keiyh were back to normal, and probably even better than normal. 

 

However, you were starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable now that the conversation was back to you and Keith. As you were searching for a new topic to talk about, You remembered one of the reasons why you went to the others in in first place: you were going to invite everybody to the kitchen for ice cream. 

“Anyways, why don’t we all head down to the kitchen?“ you piped up, eager to get the conversation away from you and Keith. “I think everyone could use some ice cream after everything that’s happened today.” 

 

“That sounds like a good idea (Y/n)” Shiro cheerfully responded. Everyone had a smile on their face, even Keith, as the eight of you headed towards the kitchen for ice cream


End file.
